Coin Collector

2017 - Beatrix Potter Peter Rabbit Mintage: 9,500,000 Approx. value: £1 Mintage: 9,900,000 Approx. value: £1 Mintage: 19,900,000 Approx. value: 50p The Beatrix Potter coins were so popular The Royal Mint issued even more the following year, including a whopping 25 million Benjamin Bunny coins. Collector notes The mintage figures here are for circulation coins; the examples that we find in our loose change. For each new coin, The Royal Mint also issue a Silver Proof Coloured version and a Brilliant Uncirculated (BU) copy; these are available direct from the Mint or from coin traders. Brilliant Uncirculated (BU) versions of the coin feature a pristine finish (and usually sold in special packaging to retain their condition) that isn’t seen on the circulated coins. Yet generally speaking they are only marginally more valuable than the examples we find in our loose change. Celebrating one of the most famous figures ever to hold the role of Master of the Mint, author of the single most influential book on physics ever written, this 50p is up there as one of the scarcest circulation 50p coins. The design Collector notes When first released only 375 copies were issued (the coin was issued to mark the 375th anniversary year of Newton’s birth), all from Woolsthorpe Manor in Lincolnshire, Isaac Newton’s birthplace. This move sparked great interest in the coin and high prices on eBay, but soon the number of coins in circulation was increased and the total mintage for the 2017 edition of the 50p coin has now confirmed at just over 1.8 million. This is still a low mintage, putting the coin only second to the Kew Gardens 50p, which has a very low mintage of just 210,000. The coin stole the headlines again when it was revealed that versions dated ‘2018’ would be produced, but only for a limited time by lucky visitors to The Royal Mint Experience in Wales. The 2018 Isaac Newton coins were not released into circulation by The Royal Mint, so it’s very unlikely you will find one in your change. The 2017 circulation coin has a relative low mintage, but examples can still be found for around £3. This valuation is likely to rise as more examples are discovered and kept in collections. Brilliant Uncirculated (BU) copies of the 2017 50p are being sold for between £3.99 and £10. A ‘double-thickness Piedfort’ version of the coin, struck in 925 sterling silver to Proof standard, is also available, with The Royal Mint offering examples for £95 whilst stocks last. The 2018 50p is the version to have with a mintage thought to be under 20,000. Examples of the 2018 coin are being offered on eBay for around £100 to £150. The Representation of the People Act 1918 gave voting rights to women over thirty, but only if they met ‘property qualifications’, and to all men over 21, and this 50p coin marked Act’s centenary. The design, by Stephen Taylor, is reminiscent of the Suffragette 50p of 2003, and shows figures in line, perhaps queuing to vote. Collector notes This is the most common 50p design issued during 2018, with nine million put into circulation, so it’s not rare. Mintage: 25,000,000 Approx. value: 50p Mintage: 210,000 Approx. value: £3 2016 - Beatrix Potter Anniversary 2017 - Sir Isaac Newton Mintage: 9,000,000 Approx. value: 50p 2018 - Representation of the People Act