(Kitco News) - The first ever gold coin made in England will be auctioned off and could go for as much as £500,000 ($672,000).

The coin, which is known as the gold penny and depicts King Henry III, was minted almost 800 years ago in England. There were a total of about 52,000 coins originally struck by William of Gloucester — the King's goldsmith.

Soon after the coins were made, a grave mistake was discovered — the coins were too heavy, which made them unusable as currency since people would get more money by simply melting the gold.

Now, only eight are left in existence and only three are owned by private parties. The anonymous seller is planning to auction it off on Jan. 8.

According to reports, the price tag could go as high as $672,000.

“These gold pennies were the first gold coins made in England,” The Sun quoted Cristiano Bierrenbach from the numismatic department at US-based Heritage Auctions as saying. “King Henry III tried to establish a trade conversion value for a coin to match the Ducat coin which was used on mainland Europe.”

King Henry is depicted on the coin itself with detailed engraving of an orb in the left hand and a scepter in the right. He is seated on a throne wearing coronation robes.

First Ever English #Gold Penny #Coin Will Sell For Over $500,000.00 - 52,000 of the King Henry III gold penny #coins were struck nearly 800 years ago @DailyMirror https://t.co/izyxkmsZ0k pic.twitter.com/aZwKapzaPD — TraderStef (@TraderStef) December 27, 2017

“He ordered the creation of a gold coin for his kingdom to be struck at twice the weight of a silver penny,” said Bierrenbach. “But the issue was ultimately unsuccessful. The coins had a standard weight of 3.5 grammes but an error was made and the coin was made too heavy, about 4.2 grammes.”

The coin eventually had to be pulled from circulation and re-struck with the right weight.

“It is incredibly rare to come across one of these. It is a big ticket item and we expect it to go for higher than the estimate,” added Bierrenbach.