Royal Australian Mint mistake could mean your $1 coin is worth thousands

There’s nothing more annoying than loose change jingling around in your pockets, but according to coin collectors, there could be a hidden jackpot right under your nose.

A mistake at the Royal Australia Mint in 2000 led to a unique set of $1 coins being made, and now they’re valued as high as $4000.

A technician’s mix up caused a rare $1/10c hybrid to be created where the Queen’s face, which was intended for a 10c coin, wound up on the tail side of a $1 coin instead.

Also called a mule coin, this rarity ended up being slightly thicker than a regular $1, gold, and with a double rim around the Queen.

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It took a year for the mistake to be discovered, but when it was, it caused a “frenzy of mule hunters”, according to a coin collecting site.

With the coins mainly sent out to Perth, hundreds of people in 2003 and 2004 withdrew $1 coins putting pressure on Western Australia banks. Many others went scrounging for $1 gold coins in casinos hoping to get lucky.

Now, 20 years later, the mules have been brought back into the spotlight following one being put up for sale on international coin collecting site The Purple Penny.

It’s selling for AU$4250.

In recent years, the mule coins have sold for a lot — though never that much.

The highest price the coins have sold for, according to The Australian Coin Collecting Blog, was $2742.75 in 2016.

Prices ranged from as low as $450 to in the thousands.

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