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The British decimal fifty pence (50p) coin – often informally pronounced fifty pee – is a unit of currency equalling one half of a pound sterling. It is a seven-sided coin formed as an equilateral-curve heptagon, or Reuleaux polygon, a curve of constant width, meaning that the diameter is constant across any bisection. A brand new UK 50p has been issued today to mark 50 years since Decimal Day! You can secure yours here:W. Feb 13, 2020 New 50p coin: Dinosaurs feature on coins for the first time. 13 Feb 2020 13 February 2020. Last updated at 09:02. View Comments (3) The Royal Mint.
A 50p design featuring the Royal Shield of Arms, which was released two years ago, is currently the second rarest 50p coin in circulation behind the 2009 Kew Gardens.
Designs that are produced annually are sometimes overlooked in rankings of rare coins, in favour of ‘commemorative’ pieces – yet less than two million of the Royal Shield of Arms were minted in the year 2017.
Which? reveals the rarest 50p coins and how mintage influences the value of a coin.
The New Snowman coin is being released just in time for Christmas A commemorative The Snowman 50p coin was first released in November 2018 to celebrate 40 years since Raymond Briggs' Christmas. Nov 05, 2019 Issued to continue the 40th anniversary of The Snowman celebrations, this new coin is the second Christmas 50p ever to be issued in the UK. Last year’s Snowman 50p from The Royal Mint was incredibly popular with collectors and created a flurry of excitement surrounding the snowy coin.
What is the rarest 50p coin?
The 2009 Kew Gardens 50p coin remains the rarest of all coins with just 210,000 in circulation.
But if you include definitive coins – meaning those produced annually – then the second rarest 50p design is the 2017 Royal Shield of Arms.
This coin was originally designed by Matthew Dent following a public competition.
According to coin collecting site Change Checker, the Royal Shield of Arms has been issued every year since 2008 apart from 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2016.
The 2017 version is by far and away the rarest, with just 1.8 million minted, in comparison to 10.3 million in 2013, 49 million in 2014 and 39.3 million in 2015.
The third rarest coin in circulation remains the Sir Isaac Newton 50p, which has a release of just 1.8m.
The chart below shows the current rarest 50p designs based on mintage figures from the Royal Mint.
Definitive vs commemorative coins
The Royal Mint issues ‘definitive’ coins every year based on demand. The same design is produced annually, with just the year changing.
These types of coins are sometimes ignored by collectors but in cases such as the Royal Shield of Arms 2017, they can also be extremely rare.
By contrast, commemorative coins are released to mark a particular occasions, person or event, so tend to be a one-off design.
Often, these coins are first released as collector’s editions by the Royal Mint, with some versions then entering general circulation.
Special 50p have been released this year celebrating the anniversary of The Gruffalo, the famous kids’ book Peter Rabbit and the deceased British professor Stephen Hawking.
How does mintage affect a coins value?
Mintage figures can have a massive impact on the coin’s value in the market.
Generally, the harder the coin is for collectors to find, the more they are likely to pay for the coin. This can partly be determined by mintage, but also the popularity of the design.
As the 2012 Olympic coins drop out of circulation by getting lost or snatched up in collections, their value has been increasing, with the football and wrestling designs particularly popular.
Which? has looked at the average price on three recent sales on eBay for particularly rare 50p coins – the Kew Gardens 2009, the Royal Shield of Arms 2017 and the Olympic 2012 wrestling design – and the results are below:
You can see that despite the rarity of the Royal Shield of Arms coin, it doesn’t fetch a huge premium – perhaps because the design doesn’t resonate with the public in the same way.
That said, collectors are advised to treat eBay listings with caution.
Some sellers will list coins at an inflated price, or bid on their own product to make it look there’s a bigger demand.
Remember that coins are only worth whatever a buyer is willing to pay for them – even if you’ve found a rare coin, you may not be able to sell it on for a profit.
What else affects the coin’s value?
The value of a coin can also depend on whether a particular design is sought-after or sentimental.
If the coin design is more popular, people are more likely to hang onto the coin and keep it from circulation.
Also the condition of a coin and whether it is from scratches or marks can have a significant impact on its value.
However an error on a coin can have the opposite effect and make them much rarer and more sought after than ‘perfect’ versions.
Last year Which? carried out a three-month investigation into the dark side of the coin investment craze – see our video below to find out which types of coins could be worth investing in, and scams to watch out for.
- Read the full investigation: Revealed: the dark side of the coin investment craze
The rarest 50p coins in circulation in the UK have been revealed by the Royal Mint ahead of the 50th anniversary of decimalisation.
One edition of the seven-sided coin, honouring Kew Gardens, is the most sought after with just 210,000 having been made, the Mint said.
The Mint has released new 50p coins to mark the anniversary of Decimal Day, when the UK ditched shillings, farthings and old pence for the new decimal system.
The transition to decimalisation took years of planning and also involved a huge information campaign.
In 2019, more than 500 million coins were released into circulation, including three new 50p designs celebrating Arthur Conon Doyle's fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, and Paddington Bear at St Paul's Cathedral and the Tower of London.
Cached
The 50th anniversary of decimalisation is on February 15, with the changeover having inspired many people to become coin collectors over the years.
The Royal Mint's director of UK currency Mark Loveridge said: 'Coin collecting remains as popular as ever, and we were delighted to release a number of special designs into circulation in 2019.
'The Kew Gardens (50p) remains the most coveted coin, with a mintage of just 210,000, but it's always exciting to find a special design in your change.'
The rarest 50p coins in circulation
Here are the rarest 50p designs in circulation, with their year and the total minted, according to the Royal Mint:
New 50p – Numista
2009 Kew Gardens, 210,000
2011 Olympic Wrestling, 1,129,500
2011 Olympic Football, 1,161,500
2011 Olympic Judo, 1,161,500
2011 Olympic Triathlon, 1,163,500
2018 Peter Rabbit, 1,400,000
2018 Flopsy Bunny, 1,400,000
2011 Olympic Tennis, 1,454,000
2011 Olympic Goalball, 1,615,500
2011 Olympic Shooting, 1,656,500
The new commemorative 50p coins are being made available to buy from www.royalmint.com in a range of precious metal and base proof finishes, with prices starting from £10 for a brilliant uncirculated coin and going up to £2,175 for a gold version. See more about them here.
The new 50p denomination commemorative coin was designed by Dominique Evans.
She said: 'Even though people understood the reason for Decimal Day, they had and still have a fondness for the pre-decimal coins.
'Those pre-decimal coins can still be found all over the country, in random jumbles in boxes and drawers, which led me to place together the denominations as if you had just found them and were looking at them from above. The sweet wren peeks out from under the crown of a threepence, sitting alongside the rose of the sixpence - all below the iconic Britannia.'