Ebay bids on rare 20p could boost Oxfordshire primary school funds (From thisisoxfordshire)

Ebay bids on rare 20p could boost Oxfordshire primary school funds

9:50am Saturday 18th July 2009

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SCHOOL fete organisers have discovered every cloud has a silver lining after unearthing a lucky 20p which could boost the coffers.

Heavy rain left Wychwood Primary School counting the cost – until parent Sue Sumner found an undated 20p among the takings.

The coin is one of 200,000 similar coins in circulation after being accidentally released by the Royal Mint last year.

School business manager Julie Hemming is selling the coin on internet auction site eBay to raise cash for the Shipton-under-Wychwood school.

Bidders have until 9pm tonight.

Mrs Hemming said: “Mrs Sumner still had some of the takings left over from the fete which she was about to take to the bank.

We had heard in the news about these 20p coins and I jokingly said I think you should have a look – and then she found one.

“We got quite excited about it. On the Queen’s head side of the coin it should have the date round the edge.”

The school fete on June 6 was a washout and only raised a little over £500 for the school — half what it normally makes.

Mrs Hemmings hopes the sale will boost the school’s coffers and help pay for an all-weather surface for the school’s outdoor quiet area.

She said: “We would love it to sell for £500. If we make more than 20p that’s a profit. There are lots of coins out there so we have been emailing people we know with the link and we sent a letter out to all the parents so they know about it.

“It would be really nice if it would go for more.”

Mrs Hemming is marketing the coin on the site as a “good investment for the future”.

One coin fetched more than £7,000, however, the coins are now selling for hundreds rather than thousands of pounds.

The Royal Mint blunder is believed to have happened during the introduction of new coins bearing part of the royal coat of arms on the “tails” side and a new profile of the Queen on the other, with the date moved to the latter.

eallen@oxfordmail.co.uk To bid for the 20p piece visit ebay.co.uk before 9pm tonight and type in the auction number: 140332348504

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