Coin News
Official UK Brexit 50p released!
*** UPDATE ***
An extra 1.5 million Brexit 50ps have been released into circulation following the 3 million initially released when Britain left to EU.
The Treasury has confirmed the number of Brexit 50p coins will increase to 10 million by the end of the year to satisfy collector demand.
On the 31st January 2020 the United Kingdom left the European Union – over three and half years after the Vote.
This departure is possibly one of the most historically significant events to happen in modern history, so we know collectors will be extremely excited to hear a brand new United Kingdom coin has been issued to commemorate the occasion.
The 2020 UK Brexit 50p has been officially released today and is the only official United Kingdom coin to commemorate the occasion.
Although the design had been rumoured some time ago, the final design features the inscription ‘Peace, prosperity and friendship with all nations‘ and the all-important date – 31st January 2020 – underneath.
However, this brand new 50p isn’t the only coin to have been issued to documents Britain’s relationship with the European Union.
In this blog, we take a look back at the coins which tell the story of the 43 year long partnership between the UK and the EU.
1973 European Economic Community 50p
In 1973, after over a decade of debate and discussion, Britain was finally successful in joining the EU – then known as the European Economic Community (EEC).
To mark such a ground-breaking partnership, The Royal Mint issued the FIRST-EVER commemorative 50p!
It’s hard to believe there was a time when commemorative 50p coins weren’t commonplace, but this 1973 coin was the very first of its kind!
The design features nine hands clasping each other in a circle, symbolising the nine member state of the community.
As the first-ever commemorative 50p, it’s unsurprising this release is considered hugely significant in British history, numismatic history, and is a staple of any UK coin collection. You can secure one for your collection for JUST £5.00 by clicking here >>
The 1973 EEC 50p had a circulating mintage of 89,755,000.
1992/3 European Council Presidency 50p
In 1992/3 the UK celebrated its presidency of the European Council of Ministers, and the completion of the Single Market.
The intricate design of this 50p, by Mary Milner Dickens (who later designed the 2000 Libraries and the 2003 Suffragettes 50ps) shows a conference table seen from above, around which are the 12 chairs for the Council of Ministers.
However, what makes this 50p particularly special and sought-after by collectors is not the design, but the mintage.
This 1992/3 European Community Presidency 50p had a circulating mintage of JUST 109,000! It is the rarest UK 50p to EVER enter circulation.
When you consider the Kew Gardens is the rarest 50p currently in circulation and has a mintage of 210,000 you start to grasp how small the mintage for this 50p really is!
Any Change Checker who is lucky enough to have this coin in their collection must be incredibly pleased!
1998 UK Entry to the EEC 25th Anniversary 50p
In 1998 a new United Kingdom 50p was issued to commemorate 25 years since the UK joined the EEC.
Remarkably, this European-Union-inspired 50p coin is the subject of another numismatic first – the first ‘new sized’ commemorative 50p to be issued following the specification change in 1997.
The old larger coins were removed from circulation and it’s this new sized 50p that has featured some of our most iconic coin designs and has become the most collected coin in the world!
Designed by John Mills (designer of the much-loved 1994 D-Day 50p), the reverse of this coin shows 12 stars to represent the 12 ministers and had a circulating mintage of 5,043,000.
And there we have it! The UK’s relationship with the EU as told by coins!
It’s incredible to look back at some of the most ground-breaking 50p issues that are tied to this 47 year relationship.
Do you have any of these coins in your collection? Let us know in the comments below!
Brand new UK Brexit 50p – Secure yours today
As you would expect with a coin this historic the brand new UK Brexit 50p has been struck to superior Brilliant Uncirculated quality and protectively encapsulated in official Change Checker packaging to preserve its quality forever.
2019 Change Checker Awards WINNERS ANNOUNCED!
Since the 2019 Change Checker Awards were opened to celebrate the very best people in the world of change collecting, nominations have been flooding in, and it really has been incredible to hear all of your stories from the last year.
It’s certainly meant we’ve had a really tough job deciding on the winners, but with thanks to our panel of judges from the Change Checker team and AllAboutCoins, our well deserved winners have now been selected…
Change Checker of the Year
Winner:
Lisa Strange
Lisa has been chosen as the 2019 Change Checker of the Year by AllAboutCoins for always going above and beyond in the Change Checker community. She’s helped many people complete their collections whilst also giving helpful advice and tips on coin collecting!
Well done Lisa!
Runner-up:
Tracey Hunter
Tracey has been chosen as the 2019 Change Checker of the Year Runner-Up by AllAboutCoins for her commitment and involvement to the Change Checker community.
Congratulations Tracey!
Junior Change Checker of the Year
Winner:
Oliver Cross
Oliver has been awarded 2019 Junior Change Checker of the Year by AllAboutCoins for his dedication and passion in finding commemorative coins in his change and inspiring others to start coin collecting.
Congratulations Oliver!
Runner-up:
Lethikka (Narwhal Narwhal)
Lethikka has been chosen as the 2019 Junior Change Checker Runner-Up of the Year by AllAboutCoins for her continued effort in inspiring others to start coin collecting. She has started a coin club at her school where she hopes to share the useful tips she’s learned from the Change Checker Community.
Congratulations Lethikka!
Matt, a panel member at AllAboutCoins, said:
“Once again there were many brilliant entries to the Change Checker Awards and picking the winner was really tough. It was lovely to see nominations for those collectors who had really gone the extra mile to help others and spread the word about collecting coins… I hope both winners enjoy reading more about coins on the allaboutcoins.co.uk website and in Coin Collector magazine!”
Coin Design of the Year
It comes as no surprise that the 2019 Coin Design of the Year is awarded to the 2019 UK Stephen Hawking 50p.
This coin was issued at the beginning of the year, as part of The Royal Mint’s new series celebrating Innovators in Science. It’s design, by Edwina Ellis, honours the most famous British scientist of modern times, Stephen Hawking and his contributions to the world of physics.
Hawking becomes one of only three people to be commemorated on a coin within a year of their death (the others being the Queen Mother and Winston Churchill).
Congratulations Edwina Ellis!
Coin Story of the Year
The winner of the 2019 Coin Story of the Year Award goes to Alex Nelson from iNews for his fantastic article on the 2019 Stephen Hawking 50p – the most talked about coin of the year!
Alex said, “Thanks Change Checker! What a nice surprise. Here’s hoping there’s plenty of new coins to report on in 2020! “
A big thank you once again to AllAboutCoins for supporting us this year and of course a huge congratulations to all of our winners and all the fantastic entries we had this year.
We’d like to thank each and every one of you for your continued support in 2019 and hope that 2020 is a fantastic year of Change Checking for you all!
If you’re interested in coin collecting, our Change Checker web app is completely free to use and allows users to:
– Find and identify the coins in their pocket
– Collect and track the coins they have
– Swap their spare coins with other Change Checkers
Sign up today at: www.changechecker.org/app
How much is an A-Z of Great Britain 10p worth now?
The A-Z of Great Britain 10p coins have been a firm favourite with collectors since they were first released last year, with 26 Quintessentially British designs capturing the public’s imagination.
Unsurprisingly, some designs are proving more popular than others, but which ones are likely to fetch the most on the secondary market?
We’ve done the hard work for you by taking a look at which A-Z 10p coins are selling for the most on eBay and which ones you should be looking out for.
The Ones to Watch…
If you’ve been lucky enough to find the ‘B’ for Bond 10p in your change, you may want to keep hold of it as it currently sells on eBay for around £3.05 – over 30 times its face value!
This coin also currently holds the top spot on our Scarcity Index, so it seems collectors everywhere are desperate to add this 10p to their collection!
In very close second, the ‘C’ for Cricket 10p sells for an average of £2.98, followed by ‘J’ for Jubilee in third, which has been selling for around £2.69.
How Many A-Z 10ps Are Out There?
Earlier this year it was confirmed that there were only 220,000 of each individual design released into circulation in 2018. We know that there were 2.1 million coins issued for 2019 but we’re yet to find out the individual mintage figures for each design.
When the official figures are released we could well see some of these coins increasing in value on the secondary market due to their low mintage!
These coins are notoriously tricky to find, but have you been lucky enough to come across any in your change? Let us know in the comments below.
Own the 2019 Complete Certified Uncirculated A-Z 10p Set
To secure the 2019 Complete Certified Uncirculated A-Z 10p Set, click here