Quick answer
eBay sold listings are the best free source of realised coin prices, but they're full of traps. Filter by "Sold listings" and "Buy It Now OR Best Offer" only, exclude obvious copies and damaged examples, check feedback and returns policy, and always confirm the actual grade rather than the seller's description. Ignore listings with 1-2 bids or suspicious pricing patterns.
TL;DR
- Always filter by "Sold listings", completed listings that didn't sell mislead you
- Ignore listings marked "Best Offer accepted", the real price is hidden
- "Rare", "mint condition" and "uncirculated" in titles mean nothing without photos
- Feedback under 50 = use caution; feedback under 10 = avoid
- Cross-check against 3-5 similar listings, single sales can be outliers
Table of contents
- Finding sold listings
- Filters that actually help
- Red flags in a listing
- Worked example, Kew Gardens 50p
- Reading the data properly
- When to trust eBay pricing
- Common questions
- FAQ
Finding sold listings
On eBay UK, search for the exact coin, then in the left sidebar scroll to "Show only" and tick "Sold listings". This shows completed listings that actually resulted in a sale, not ones that expired unsold at aspirational prices.
The URL trick: add &LH_Sold=1&LH_Complete=1 to any search URL and you get the same result. Bookmark a search URL for a coin you track frequently.
Each sold listing shows:
- Final sale price (or private "best offer" marker)
- Shipping cost
- Sale date
- Number of bids (if auction) or fixed-price sale type
Filters that actually help
Additional filters to apply:
- Condition, "Ungraded" for raw coins, "Graded" to isolate slabbed examples
- Buying format, "Auction" for true market price discovery; "Buy It Now" for asking prices that cleared
- Item location, "UK only" to avoid shipping distortions
- Price range, set a sensible range to exclude obvious fakes and miscategorised items
- Seller feedback, no direct filter, but sort by "Best Match" and check sellers individually
The two filter combinations I rely on:
For realistic market floor:
- Sold listings + Auction format + UK only + date last 90 days
For high-grade price discovery:
- Sold listings + Graded + NGC or PCGS in title + last 180 days
Red flags in a listing
A surprisingly high number of sold listings are either fakes, misidentified, or misleading. Flags:
In the title
- "COPY" in small caps or hidden at the end, legally required on replicas
- "Rare reproduction", explicit replica
- Dates paired with impossible designs ("1933 penny, new!")
- Spelling errors that suggest machine-generated listings
In the photos
- Only one angle shown, poor lighting
- Obvious marker-pen "signatures" from obsolete authentication attempts
- Re-used stock photos (same coin listed by multiple sellers)
- Background showing multiple identical coins
In the seller profile
- Feedback below 50, especially recent account
- Negative feedback mentioning counterfeits or non-delivery
- "Private listings", often used to hide who bought at inflated prices
- Based outside UK/EU for a UK-only coin
In the listing structure
- "Best Offer accepted" with the actual accepted price hidden
- Single bid from a new-account buyer
- Two identical listings from the same seller selling seconds apart
- Extreme shipping fees hiding a low headline price
Worked example, Kew Gardens 50p
Let's apply this to a real pricing question: what's a circulated Kew Gardens 50p worth in March 2026?
Raw search shows 200+ sold listings in the last 90 days. After filters:
- Sold + UK + Auction format + Ungraded: 45 listings
- Remove listings with <5 feedback buyers: 38 listings
- Remove listings with "COPY" or "reproduction": 34 listings
- Remove listings where photos show obvious fakes (weak pagoda, wrong weight claimed): 29 listings
The 29 remaining cluster as:
- 5th-25th percentile: £130-£155
- 50th percentile (median): £175
- 75th-95th percentile: £195-£240
- Outliers above £240: slabbed examples or PL conditions
So a "real" circulated Kew Gardens price in March 2026 is £150-£200 depending on condition, not the £300 some headline listings suggest. See the full Kew Gardens 50p guide for current data.
Reading the data properly
Three statistical principles make eBay data trustworthy:
Median, not average
A single £500 outlier pulls the average up dramatically. Use the middle value (median) of your sorted sold listings as the reference.
Sample size
Fewer than 10 sold listings in 90 days = unreliable. Expand to 180 or 360 days, or accept that the coin trades rarely and volatility is real.
Condition bands
Group sold listings by grade (Fine / VF / EF / UNC / Graded) and calculate a median for each band. A £200 slabbed MS65 tells you nothing about the price of a raw VF.
MyCoinage aggregates this work automatically, our auction scraper pulls realised prices from eBay UK nightly, applies outlier filtering, and feeds the data into each coin's individual page. Log your collection via the coin value checker and MyCoinage shows live market values alongside provenance-adjusted estimates. Compare to community benchmarks on the leaderboard.
When to trust eBay pricing
eBay pricing is most reliable for:
- Modern circulation coins under £500 (Kew Gardens, Olympic 50ps, commemorative £2 coins)
- Mid-grade pre-decimal coins with steady market turnover
- Silver bullion (Britannias, proof sets)
- Sovereigns in VF-EF grade
eBay pricing is least reliable for:
- Genuine rarities (1933 penny, Edward VIII coins), trade at Spink/Baldwin's
- High-grade MS65+ slabbed coins, auctions at PCGS or specialist dealers give better data
- Error coins and varieties, requires expert identification
- Ancient and hammered coins, authentication matters enormously
For everything in the second list, consult rare UK coins, 1933 penny value, or Charles III coin guide for better baseline pricing, and use Spink, Baldwin's, and Noonans auction archives instead.
Common questions
How do I filter eBay to only show sold items?
Use the left-sidebar "Show only" section and tick "Sold listings", or add &LH_Sold=1&LH_Complete=1 to your search URL.
Why do two identical coins sell for very different prices?
Condition, photos, listing quality, seller reputation, timing (weekends sell higher), and promotion (Instagram share, auction visibility). A 30-60% spread between low and high sales on the same coin is normal.
Should I trust sellers with low feedback?
Low feedback isn't automatically bad, everyone starts somewhere. Look at the combination: 0-5 feedback + high-value item + no returns + location outside the UK = walk away.
Does eBay hide the accepted Best Offer price?
Yes. The displayed "Sold" price is the list price; actual accepted offers can be 10-30% below. Treat these listings as upper bounds only.
FAQ
Q: What percentage of eBay coin listings are fake?
A: Estimates from numismatic societies suggest 15-25% of "rare" modern UK coin listings involve fakes or misdescriptions. For common coins the rate is much lower.
Q: Is eBay the best place to sell a coin?
A: For coins worth £10-£500, usually yes. For anything higher-value or rare, specialist auction (Spink, Baldwin's, Noonans) nets more after fees.
Q: What eBay fees should I expect as a seller?
A: Final value fees around 10-13% plus payment processing. Account for this when benchmarking against slabbed auction prices.
Q: How often should I check eBay sold data?
A: For active collections, monthly. For insurance documentation, quarterly. See coin collection insurance UK for documentation tips.
Q: Where can I learn more about coin pricing?
A: Start with are old coins worth anything?, then explore specific denomination guides for £1 coins and £2 coins.