A rare 20p coin has sold for nearly 200 times its face value after being listed on eBay.
The undated coin, minted in 2008 and listed as having a 'mule error,' sold for £39.99 on Monday, January 5.
Described in the listing as an "undated 20p piece minted in 2008," the coin is missing a date due to an error in production.
The full listing reads: "Undated 20p piece minted in 2008. Mule error, coin does not include a date.
(Image: eBay)
"Coin was circulated briefly in 2008 but has been in my possession and not circulated since 2008."
The piece sold at the buy-it-now price of £39.99, plus £2.94 postage.
The error occurred due to an incorrect pairing of the old and new coin designs during minting.
A Royal Mint spokesperson said: "In November 2008 a number of 20p coins were incorrectly minted, resulting in the coins being undated.
"This problem affected less than 250,000 coins of the 136 million 20p pieces minted in 2008-09 and was due to the previous obverse (the 'Heads' side) being used with the new reverse (the ‘Tails’ side) design, meaning the year of issue did not feature at all.
"These coins remain legal tender and still have a face value of 20p."
The 20p coin features the design by Matthew Dent, introduced in 2008, which forms part of the Royal Shield of Arms when combined with other UK denominations.
The mule error occurred when the older obverse was paired with the newer reverse, omitting the date entirely.
While rare, the Royal Mint believes fewer than 250,000 undated 20p coins entered circulation, out of the 136 million produced in 2008 and 2009.
The 20p was first introduced in 1982 and has undergone several design changes since then.
Until 2008, the reverse featured a crowned Tudor double rose designed by William Gardner.
In 2008, the shield design was introduced.
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