Auction house swamped with calls from people who believe they have a rare 20p coin

An auction house has received thousands of phone calls and emails from around the world as a result of plans to sell a rare twenty pence piece which is now worth thousands of euro.

Whyte’s Auctioneers are selling a rare trial coin, now worth up to €6,000, which was issued in advance of production to various companies and organisations to facilitate calibration of vending machines and other coin-operated devices such as telephones, meters etc.