How a ‘clever’ football rule can make your 50p worth 60 TIMES more – will you put one on the back of your sofa?

A COIN expert has revealed why a “clever” football rule on your 50p coin will make it 60 times more valuable.

To celebrate the 2012 Olympic Games in London, The Royal Mint released a unique set of 50p coins.

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The designs for each coin were selected through a national competition. A total of 29 designs were put together for the set, each themed around a different Olympic sport.

The Olympic Football 50p, also known as the Offside Rule 50p, is known as the scarcest coin and is worth 60 times more than it should be.

The piece in question contains a simple diagram explaining the rule.

Coin collector and history enthusiast @coincollectingwizard told his 199,000 followers on TikTok to keep their eyes peeled for this rarity.

In his video he said: “Did you know you can find a valuable 50p football coin?

“All designs for the 50p for the London Olympics in 2009 were chosen through a public competition. From 30,000 entries, this design was chosen for the Offside Rule 50p.”

The TikTokker continues: “The Olympic Offside Rule can be found in your change.

Nearly 1.2 million coins from 2011 have been released into circulation.

“The coin cleverly illustrates the offside rule in football, which may be useful to those who find the concept baffling. I’m joking, of course.

“But seriously, this coin debunks the rule in a big way.”

While you can check how much of a coin has been minted on The Royal Mint’s website, @coincollectingwizard estimates you could still get £30 if the coin is in circulation and a “very nice” £20 if the coin is out of circulation.

In most cases, a coin is valuable if there is a small amount of it in circulation – the so-called mintage figure.

In general, the lower the mintage of a coin, the more you can get for it at auction, on eBay or Facebook Marketplace.

There are approximately 1.2 million Olympic Football 50p coins in circulation, so chances are you’ll find one in a drawer or pocket.

You can even get a nice amount of money for it.

Not so long ago, sellers would try to sell their extremely rare Olympic coins for hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds.

Earlier in September, a coin seller decided to put his Olympic 50p boxing coin on eBay for £700. Somehow, the coin sold for that amount.

This work shows a pair of boxing gloves crossed over each other in a boxing ring with horizontal lines.

So take a look around and see what you can find. If you do decide to buy one of these silver pieces, do your research and beware of fakes.

How do you sell a rare coin?

You can sell a rare coin on eBay, Facebook or at an auction.

Selling through Facebook comes with risks.

Sellers have been targeted by scammers on Facebook before, claiming to be buying a rare coin and asking for money up front so a courier could pick it up.

But it’s a ruse to get money out of you and the courier never comes.

To avoid this, it is always best to meet a Facebook seller in person when buying or selling something.

Make sure it is a public meeting place that is well lit. If possible, do not use payment links.

Most sellers prefer to accept cash immediately upon meeting to ensure it is legitimate.

The safest way to sell a rare coin is probably through an auction. You can arrange this with The Royal Mint’s Collectors Service.

It has a team of experts who can help you verify and value your coin.

You can contact us by email and a member of the valuation team will contact you.

There is a charge for this service. The cost varies depending on the size of your collection.

You can also sell rare coins on eBay.

Please note that if you sell your item, eBay will charge you 10% of the proceeds. This includes postage and packaging.

Always keep in mind that when selling a rare coin, you only get what the seller is willing to pay for it.