Comic of little value new, cents tops (5)
I believe the answer is:
clown
'comic' is the definition.
(I know that clown is a type of comic)
'of little value new cents tops' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'of' could be 'o' and 'o' is found in the answer.
'little' could be 'l' (abbreviation for little) and 'l' is located in the answer.
'new' could be 'n' (common abbreviation eg NT for New Testament) and 'n' is found within the answer.
'cents' could be 'c' (abbreviation for cents) and 'c' is present in the answer.
A single letter 'w' remains which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for clown that I've seen before include "Funny man in circus" , "Funny person in circus" , "Buffoon" , "Behave playfully" , "Act comically" .)