AN AVID coin collector has revealed his shock after discovering he is “the only person” to own an ultra-rare 20p coin dating back 40 years.

Oliver Evans, 23, from Southend, is the owner of a 1982 20p that is missing the design on one side.

The coin still has the tails side marked but is completely blank on the side where the late Queen’s head should be.

Mr Evans, whose late grandad got him into coin collecting as a child, found out more about the rare coin when contacting The Sun – after seeing a previous article they published on a different coin missing one side.

He told the Echo: “I have had it since I was around 14 to 15, and I have just kept it in my collection ever since as it was interesting to see.

“I only recently decided to try and find out more about it after coming across a story in The Sun about a similar coin.

“I love coin collecting as it is fun, and it makes me happy. I like seeing all the different designs.

“It is nice to know that one of my coins is actually something rather interesting and rare.”

It is believed the rare minting error was likely down to a separate rogue 20p coin blank entering the stamping machine at the same time.

Somewhere out there, there is another 20p with this coin’s missing design on, however it has never publicly surfaced.

Oliver told the Echo he now wants to get the coin verified by The Royal Mint, even though he is more than happy to keep it.

He added: “I would like to get it verified.

“I would also consider selling it, but I would have to be a significant amount for me to do so.

“Otherwise, I would just keep it in my collection.”

Oliver now has around 80 coins in his collection in total but this extra special 20p could be turn out to be worth hundreds of pounds.