First look at new Gruffalo’s Child 50p coin – how much is it worth?

COIN collectors may want to get their hands on a new coin celebrating the classic children’s book, the Gruffalo.

The Royal Mint is releasing a 50p coin to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the woodland monster and his friends.

The book hit stands in 1999 and was written by English author and playwright Julia Donaldson.

It follows the tale of a little mouse on a walk who deceives different predators, including the Gruffalo.

It has since grown to become a classic selling 13.5million copies and has been adapted for both stage and screen.

Back in 2019, The Royal Mint issued a pair of commemorative 50p coins to celebrate the story two decades on.

The first 50p nod to the book featured The Gruffalo’s head up close – warts and all.

While the second 50p Gruffalo edition shows the entire beast standing in front of a mouse, who is the protagonist of the story, in the deep dark forest, designed by Magic Light Pictures.

The coins costs £10 when they first launched on the Royal Mint website, but now you can only them by on eBay for around £15.

However, collectors have a chance to purchase a brand new Gruffalo-themed coin.

To celebrate the launch of spin-off book the Gruffalo’s Child, which came out in 2004, a new 50p coin will be available to buy.

The piece features an original illustration by Axel Sheffler of the  Gruffalo’s Child in the wintery setting of the deep dark wood, alongside the ittle Mouse.

A selection of the coins will also be available to buy in colour.

The Gruffalo’s Child will be available to purchase from The Royal Mint’s website as of today, August 28.

Also you should be aware that this piece is a collectable, so won’t be in general circulation.

This means you would not get a 50p featuring the Gruffalo as change in the shop.

Prices start from £12 for a 50p for a uncirculated coin, and this raises to £21 if you want to buy a coloured version of the coin.

This then increase to £75 if you buy the coin with a sliver proof, and £99.50 if you but a gold proof version of the coin.

Rebecca Morgan, director of commemorative coin at The Royal Mint said: “The heartwarming tale of The Gruffalo’s Child has captivated readers since its release twenty years ago, and this year, the curious little monster finds a permanent home on a 50 pence piece.

“Brought to life by Royal Mint expert craftspeople, this coin captures the true essence of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s much-loved story in beautiful detail. We hope fans of the book admire the design as much as we do.”

How much is it worth?

As this coin has just been released today it is hard to know how much exactly you can make from reselling it.

But the Grufallo coin which came out in 2019 sold for £22 just a few days ago.

Another bidder managed to sell the same coin for £26 earlier this August as well.

These are both high mark ups compared to the £10 Royal Mint sold them for some five years ago.

However, other people have managed to score Gruffalo coins for as little as £6 on eBay.

This would mean the seller made a loss of around £4 if they bought for the original price in 2019.

It is important to remember that coins are only worth how much someone is willing to pay for them.

How to spot rare coins and banknotes

Rare coins and notes hiding down the back of your sofa could sell for hundreds of pounds.

If you are lucky enough to find a rare £10 note you might be able to sell it for multiple times its face value.

You can spot rare notes by keeping an eye out for the serial numbers.

These numbers can be found on the side with the Monarch’s face, just under the value £10 in the corner of the note.

Also if you have a serial number on your note that is quite quirky you could cash in thousands.

For example, one seller bagged £3,600 after spotting a specific serial number relating to the year Jane Austen was born on one of their notes.

You can check if your notes are worth anything on eBay, just tick “completed and sold items” and filter by the highest value.

It will give you an idea of what people are willing to pay for some notes.

But do bear in mind that yours is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it.

This is also the case for coins, you can determine how rare your coin is by looking a the latest scarcity index.

The next step is to take a look at what has been recently sold on eBay.

Experts from Change Checker recommend looking at “sold listings” to be sure that the coin has sold for the specified amount rather than just been listed.

People can list things for any price they like, but it doesn’t mean it will sell for that amount.

We explain further how you can find out if you have a rare coin worth thousands sitting around the house.