Gregory Edmund, a numismatic specialist from Spink & Son auction house, told The Telegraph: "Ever since the official London Gazette notice for the 2019 Brexit 50 pence has existed, I have wondered if survivors of the one million cancelled coins would one day surface.
They are the only two coins known to be in circulation, although a Royal Mint spokesman told the publication they couldn’t confirm their validity as it was believed the one million coins with the October date were destroyed.
To mark the planned Brexit day of 31 October 2019, around a million 50p coins were made but they had to be melted down and recycled when then prime minister Boris Johnson had to seek an extension.
A thousand trial coins were also made to mark the first exit date of 29 March 29 2019, which was missed by the previous prime minister Theresa May.
There’s also the added bonus of not having to carry around a wallet full of coins, which can be weighty if there’s no notes in the shop’s till and you get given a handful of change to cart about for the rest of the day.
