50p Coins
Do you own the rarest Olympic 50p?
In 2011, 29 50p coins were released ahead of the 2012 London Olympics and millions rose to the challenge of collecting them all. For many, this marked the start of their interest in coins.
The Royal Mint now estimates that as many as 75% of the Olympic 50p coins have been removed from circulation by collectors, which is a testament to their popularity.
But which Olympic 50ps do you need to look out for…
2009 Athletics Olympic 50p
In 2009, two years before the 29-coin Olympic 50p series was released, nine-year old Florence Jackson became the youngest person to design a coin for circulation in the UK. Her Athletics Olympic 50p design was the ultimate winner of a Blue Peter competition.
Although you may recognise this coin, you may not know that a rare version of this coin exists. When the competition winner was revealed, only 100,000 special edition Blue Peter coin packs were released with a 2009 dated coin – making it the only Olympic 50p without a 2011 date.
That makes this 2009 Athletics Olympic 50p more than twice as rare as the famous Kew Gardens 50p.
Which Olympic 50p is the rarest?
Did you know that only 1,125,500 Football fifty pence pieces entered circulation? It’s definitely the rarest one to look out for and tops our chart as having the smallest mintage figures, which means it is even harder to find than the others.
Although the Olympic Football 50p holds the smallest mintage figure, this doesn’t necessarily mean it’s always going to be the most sought-after Olympic 50p. To determine just how scarce and sought-after your coins are, check out our Scarcity Index.
The withdrawn Aquatics ‘error’ Olympic 50p
The Aquatics 50p which we are familiar with today is actually a modified version which removed the waves passing over the swimmer’s face.
Despite the original design being adapted early on – there are still a few of the original coins in circulation.
Although the exact quantity of the original Aquatics design remains a mystery, we know it’s not unusual for these special coins to exchange hands for close to £1000… not a bad return on a 50p coin!
The rarest of the series
It is without doubt that the gold versions of each 50p remain the rarest of the collection.
Unfortunately for collectors, obtaining one of these is nearly impossible as only one gold version of each design was presented to the respective winning designer.
Aside from the precious metal content, their unique status and significance rank them as potentially the most valuable UK 50p coins in existence.
Is this the 30th Olympic 50p?
To the delight of many Olympic 50p collectors, in 2016 The Royal Mint issued a special 50p to wish Team GB success for the Rio Games.
The coin’s obverse features a swimmer with the Team GB logo, the Olympic rings and the inscription ‘TEAM GB’. Designed by Tim Sharp, the coin has been officially endorsed by Team GB and celebrates the spirit of British Olympians.
Although the 2016 Team GB 50p isn’t part of the 29-coin Olympic 50p series, it’s become known as the ‘unofficial 30th Olympic 50p’ – a must have for all Olympic 50p Collectors.
Dual-Dated Team GB 50p
Back in 2020, collectors were delighted by the announcement of the new Team GB 50p, released as part of the 2020 Annual Coin Set to celebrate Team GB’s participation in the Tokyo Olympic Games.
However, due to the coronavirus pandemic and the postponement of the Olympic Games to 2021, this 50p was never individually released in 2020.
Excitingly, this means that there are two versions of the coin – one with the obverse dated 2020 from the 2020 Annual Coin Set and one with the obverse dated 2021 from the individual release.
What’s more, this makes the 2021 UK Team GB 50p one of only a small handful of UK 50ps to feature a dual-date – only adding to its collectability!
Complete your 50p collection
Straight from darkest Peru and into your pocket, the nation’s favourite bear is finally on sale!
Earlier this year, we announced the exciting news that the UK’s incredibly popular Beatrix Potter 50p coins are to be followed up by two new Paddington™ 50 pence coins.
It’s now with great anticipation that we can reveal the first Paddington coin has been officially released!
Celebrating the very British bear
The coins have been issued to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Paddington’s first adventure and this first design is based on the modern adaptation from the CGI-live action movie, featuring Paddington on his suitcase in front of the station and excitingly, one more Paddington 50p coin will also be released by The Royal Mint later this year and this coin will feature the bear waving a Union Flag outside Buckingham Palace.
Of course fans of the movie Paddington 2, will also remember a 50p coin playing an important part in his adventure.
Not the first Paddington coin…
Whilst this is not the first time Paddington has appeared on a coin, it is his first time appearing on official UK coinage.
The nation’s loveable bear has previously featured on 1 crown (25p) coins from both Isle of Man and Gibraltar – now listed for as much £30 on eBay.
Due to the popularity of these coins, and the whole new generation of collectors created by the Beatrix Potter 50ps, it is expected that these coins will be extremely sought-after by collectors and Paddington fans alike.
These coins will be available in Brilliant Uncirculated collector’s edition, with coloured Silver and even Gold versions also being made available.
Paddington at the Station 50p, now available to own!
You can now own the FIRST EVER UK 2018 Paddington 50p Coin in superior collector quality.
Why you mustn’t pay £1,000 (or even £16,000) on ebay for the new Paddington 50p…
There’s been much excitement this week for Change Checkers following the accidental early release of a small number of new Paddington 50p coins.
Paddington at the Station BU 50p – Available to order from the 18th June.
The first coins were discovered late last week and quickly made their way onto collectors’ forums and ebay, with one attracting a “sold price” of £16,000 – prompting interest from a number of national newspapers.
Paddington 50p listed for £16,100. Credit: ebay
Of course, in reality, it’s unlikely that the transaction will ever complete at that price and certainly it’s not the time to be bidding on ebay for the new coin as The Royal Mint has confirmed the release date for the new Paddington 50p Coin as 18th June, with a second design, featuring Paddington outside Buckingham palace, following later in the year (also available to pre-order on Monday).
Paddington at the Palace BU 50p – Available to pre-order from the 18th June.
The new coin will be available in the official Royal Mint Presentation Pack, which usually sells for around £10 or in a Change Checker “Certified Brilliant Uncirculated” Presentation for £3.99 from www.westminstercollection.com
Coloured Silver 50p Collector’s Edition also confirmed…
Limited numbers of the Silver Proof Collector’s Edition of the Paddington 50p coin have also been seen in some Post Offices ahead of the 18th June release date.
Paddington at the Station Silver Proof – Available to order from the 18th June.
Again these will be properly available online from 18 June, with a confirmed Limited Edition Presentation of 60,000.