Rare ‘mistrike’ coins worth $1,500 are still floating around Australia

Aussies have been told to check their pockets for some very rare shrapnel that could net them a happy payday.

Aussies have been told to check their pockets for some very rare shrapnel that could net them a happy payday.

A rare 50 cent and 10 cent coin are anticipated to sell for up to $1,500 each due to their status as “mistrikes” from the Royal Australian Mint.

The coins had their label printed on the wrong piece of metal.

“They are very rare. There are quite a lot of decimal error coins created but the Mint doesn’t release them, they put them to one side and re-use the metal,” coin expert Jim Noble said via Yahoo Finance.

“To find a coin like the 10-cent piece struck on a 5-cent blank, that is quite rare. But, they can be found in circulation.

“There was a case of two of these error coins turning up more than one at a time.

“You should look at your change … you might have something.”

The specific errors include a 1978 50-cent coin struck on a 20-cent blank, which is expected to fetch $1,500 to the right collector, and a 1994 10-cent coin struck on a 5-cent blank, which is expected to draw bids of over $1,000.

It is unusual for error coins to be in circulation, but they have been known to have been found by the public.

The coins are part of a larger collection being auctioned, which also includes a GEORGE V halfpenny with reverse stamping estimated at $2,500 and two holey dollars from 1813, each expected to be worth $120,000.

Aussies have been told to check their pockets for some very rare shrapnel that could net them a happy payday.

The alert over mistrike coins comes after collectors urged Aussies to keep an eye out for another $1 coin minted in 2000 that contains a significant error made by the Royal Australian Mint.

The error could fetch the owner anywhere up to $3000 online, based on the coin’s condition.

The rare coin has been minted with a “double rim” around its perimeter, while a regular $1 coin only has one rim.

“Check the date. It needs to be a year 2000-dated $1 coin,” The Australian Coin Collecting Blog posted in January.

The coins had their label printed on the wrong piece of metal. Picture: Noble Numismatic

“If your 2000-dated coin does have the double rim on the Queen’s head side then what you have is a $1/10c mule, a variety of the Australian dollar coin that’s worth well over face value.”

“After spending 17 years in circulation, some coins are more valuable than others.”

The blog explains the mule was made when a technician at the mint in Canberra accidentally paired the mob of ‘roos dollar reverse with the Queen’s head obverse, which is usually used for the 10 cent coin.