News Talk

BRITS have been urged to rifle in their pockets and check down the backs of sofas, after a rare coin sold for 300 times its value.

Cash is being used less and less in Britain, with some companies even now refusing to take cash payments.

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But although many prefer the convenience of  contactless cards and see loose change as an annoyance, it can actually be extremely valuable.

The rarest coin currently in active circulation is His Majesty King Charles III’s 50p coin, depicting the Atlantic Salmon, with just 200,0000 of the coins back in 2023.

Following close behind, the Kew Gardens 50p, released in 2009, is the second rarest coin, with 210,000 in active circulation.

The highly sought-after collectable, which features the Kew Gardens pagoda, recently caused a storm on eBay, with a 25 bid showdown resulting in one of the rare coins being sold for £157, which is over 300 times its value.

It is worth checking your piggy bank and sorting through any spare change for the coin, as it could end up earning you enough for a posh meal or a flight abroad.

However, the Royal Mint warned that the coin may be tricky to find in your purse, as they are often snapped up by collectors.

 “Nothing gets people excited quite like this original 2009 design”, it said.

“Just 210,000 were released into circulation and with almost all of them in private hands, the chances of coming across one in your change are slim.”

It added: “The venerable institution depicted on the Kew Gardens 50p coin is the nation’s most famous royal botanical garden.

“The reverse design, created by Christopher Le Brun RA, features the famous Chinese Pagoda at Kew with a decorative leafy climber twining in and around the tower.

“Demand for the 50p denomination was not high at the time of release into circulation which explains the low mintage of this particular design.”

The Atlantic Salmon 50p is also a highly sought-after collector’s item, and often sells for huge sums on eBay.

Last week, an Atlantic Salmon coin sold on eBay for a whopping £69, after a fierce 16 bid showdown.

On October 7 one coin sold for £164 with six bidders fighting for the prize.

Another sold for £147 on December 16 with a whopping 37 bids.

If you’re ever unsure of how much a coin should be sold for, it helps to look at what prices other people are listing.

You can also run it through Change Checker’s Scarcity Index to get a sense of its value.

How to Sell A Rare Coin

If you’re lucky enough to find a rare coin amongst your spare change, you can sell them through online marketplaces such as eBay.

You can also sell coins via auction, through the Royal Mint Collector’s Service.

If you choose to do it this way, a team of experts will authenticate and value your coin, and advise you on how to sell.

THE distraught wife of an Irish-based man released on bail after being held in jail in Iraq for more than four years said her husband is “completely unrecognisable” following his detention.

Robert Pether was released on bail earlier this week after being arrested in Iraq in April 2021 and later jailed on fraud charges.

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The United Nations had described it as an arbitrary detention.

An Australian national, Mr Pether had been living with his wife Desree Pether in Elphin, Co Roscommon for a number of years.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Ms Pether said her husband is “not well at all” and “really needs to just come home so he can get the proper medical care he needs”.

She told the programme: “It was a shock. It was hard to be very happy to see him but also to see the state of him.

“He’s completely unrecognisable. It’s a shock to the system to see how far he has declined.

“I feel like a bus has hit me. It all happened so late last night.”

Ms Pether added that despite the grim jail situation, her husband’s cellmates were “very good to him”.

She explained that he fainted now and again from not eating enough, at which time those locked up with him would give him tea and honey.

Ms Pether called it “the best of a bad situation” and said she now hopes there is “light at the end of the tunnel”.

She added that her husband is still facing a travel ban in Iraq.

The travel ban may not be lifted for a few days, she explained, as it is the end of the working week in Iraq with Eid al-Adha being celebrated.

“We don’t know the exact stipulations on the travel ban but at least he’s out of the prison, and in a comfortable bed.”

Ms Pether said trying to get her husband home has been “beyond frustrating”.

“It has been a living nightmare every day. 18 hours a day, seven days a week,” she said, adding that this development was a small step in the right direction.

HUGE CONCERN

A mechanical engineer, Mr Pether had worked in the Middle East for almost a decade before taking on a rebuild of Iraq’s Central Bank headquarters in Baghdad in 2015.

Towards the end of the project, a dispute arose between the bank and the company Mr Pether worked for – Dubai-based engineering firm CME Consulting.

It landed Mr Pether and his Egyptian engineer colleague Khalid Radwan in prison, after the bank accused the men of stealing money from the project.

In 2023, the International Chamber of Commerce’s Court of Arbitration ruled that Iraq’s central bank was at fault in the dispute with CME, and ordered it to pay $13m to the company.

Simon Harris was informed of Robert’s release during a call with Foreign Minister Hussein of Iraq on Thursday evening.

He told Newstalk: “I am very pleased to have been informed of the release of Robert Pether, whose imprisonment in Iraq has been a cause of huge, huge concern.

“This is welcome news, it’s been a very long-running, and extraordinary distressing, time for Robert’s wife, for his three children, for his wider circle of family and friends in Roscommon.”

Mr Harris welcomed it as a first step to his being allowed to return to his wife and three children in Roscommon.

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SHE is the 80-year-old granny battling the billionaires with her Derby ‘superstar’.

In what has been billed as the ultimate David vs Goliath showdown, this ‘proud Yorkshirewoman’ with just six horses is daring to dream in the world’s most prestigious race.

Steven Cargill / Racingfotos.com

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Meet Vimy Aykroyd, racing royalty, rebel and the owner of 5-1 chance Pride Of Arras.

At stake is the small matter of £900,000 for victory, a place in history and a lucrative, money-spinning career at stud for their three-year-old colt.

But also the realisation of a dream that started 26 years ago when Vimy first sent horses to trainer Ralph Beckett.

Their families are intertwined, with Vimy having spent time with the Becketts growing up.

When Ralph, son of trainer William, started his own yard in 1999, Vimy – Lavinia for full – was one of the first to send him horses.

In the years since Beckett has pretty much done it all.

Millions upon millions in prize money, Arc de Triomphe victory with Bluestocking last year, Group 1s galore and Royal Ascot success.

But he’s never won the Derby.

Over the past decade, the 1m4f race over the undulating, rolling Epsom track has been a happy hunting ground for the billionaire tycoons who dominate the sport.

Since 2017 it has been won by either Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed – under his Godolphin operation – or the all-conquering Coolmore group, made up of Irish racing boss John Magnier and British former bookies Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith.

Only in 2017, with Desert Crown, did it go to someone else – Dubai businessman Saeed Suhail.

In fact, you have to go to diamond dealer Anthony Oppenheimer in 2015 for the last sole British owner to win the Derby, when he did it with Golden Horn.

It’s a tough gig when you’re literally battling those with the financial might of an entire country behind them.

But Vimy’s more than used to overcoming adversity.

Mischievous by nature, she wasn’t always the best student and racing was in her blood given her grandad won the Grand National in 1891.

When women were allowed to ride in Flat races for the first time in 1972 she naturally took part and won on a horse called Old Cock.

Personal life took over when she moved to Spain with husband Richard Aykroyd – but he died from cancer in 1997.

Vimy returned to London and then Yorkshire, where she married her late husband’s brother David, who has been described as ‘the epitome of the English gentleman’.

Sadly, the Telegraph report that he is now in a care home with dementia and unaware their beloved horse is running in the world’s most famous Flat race.

Pride Of Arras was 50-1 for the Derby before he won the Dante at York – the key trial for the Epsom contest – last month.

Beckett was bullish of his chances in the big one immediately after and there is no doubt he is the big British hope this year.

A fairytale story, victory and overcoming odds? Sounds like Vimy Aykroyd all over.

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