A rare UK coin featuring an Atlantic Salmon has become a hot commodity among collectors, with some coins fetching prices far above their face value on online marketplaces.
In a recent transaction, the Charles III Atlantic Salmon 50p coin, part of a limited mintage released by the Royal Mint in 2023, was sold on eBay for £18—36 times its nominal value—highlighting the intense demand for this particular piece of currency.
The coin, which features an image of the Atlantic salmon alongside the profile of King Charles III, was initially introduced into circulation in November 2023. According to online coin site Copes Coins, only an estimated 500,000 of these coins were released, making them increasingly difficult to find in everyday change.
This scarcity has driven up prices, with collectors eagerly snapping up any available pieces. The seller, based in Chaddesley Corbett, capitalized on this demand, earning nearly a £20 profit on a single coin, with the buyer also covering £2.70 in postage costs.
The Atlantic Salmon 50p has quickly become one of the “most talked about” coins within the collecting community. Copes Coins, a prominent voice in the field, has noted the coin’s growing rarity and increasing value, speculating that it could become one of the rarest coins to enter UK circulation in the last 15 years.
This rarity has sparked a flurry of sales, with some sellers offering entire bags of the coins for substantial sums. In one such instance, a seller from Kidderminster sold a bag of Atlantic Salmon 50p coins for nearly £200 in April.
