Related Articles
The 50p coin is marking 50 years since it went into circulation, and the Royal Mail has revealed which are the rarest.
Rarity gives a coin value as collectors will pay thousands of pounds for an example of there are few of them around.
Some 50p coins have seen just a few thousand enter circulation, meaning their resale potential is well above the face value of 50p.
The 50p coin, which entered circulation on October 14 1969, is considered to be the most collectable in Britain today, the Royal Mint said.
But it is the 2009 Kew Gardens 50p design which remains the nation’s rarest coin, with just 210,000 created.
Mintage figures from 2018 show the 2011 Olympic wrestling design is the second rarest 50p coin in circulation, with 1,129,500 produced.
It is followed by the 2011 Olympic football design, of which 1,161,500 were created.
The Royal Mint’s director of currency, Andrew Mills, said: “The official 2018 mintage figures provide a guide to the volume and variety of coins in 50p circulation today.
“Coin collecting remains as popular as ever in the UK, and October marks 50 years of the iconic 50p, widely considered to be the most collectable coin.”
The rarest 50p coins produced in 2018 featured the Beatrix Potter characters Peter Rabbit and Flopsy Bunny – each with a mintage of 1.4 million.
The Royal Mint said one of the most “significant” 50p coins released into circulation last year commemorated the 100th anniversary of The Representation of the People Act.
Video Unavailable
The coin, which depicts key beneficiaries of the act including a woman holding her ballot, a soldier and a suffragette, was produced nine million times.
Every coin in circulation is struck at the Royal Mint’s facility in Llantrisant, South Wales.
The Royal Mint said the 50p coin replaced the ten-shilling note and was entered into circulation in readiness for the decimal switchover of Britain’s currency.
The rarest 50p designs in circulation, with their mintage figures, are:
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
