Rarest 50ps Revealed! 2018 Mintage Figure Update
Exciting news! The Royal Mint have revealed the latest mintage figures for 2018 coins!
Seven 50p coins entered circulation in 2018 and collectors across the nation have been debating how rare each one might be.
But now the official figures have been revealed and it looks like there are some particularly rare ones we should be looking out for…
The rarest Beatrix Potter 50ps
Collectors who have held on to their 2018 Beatrix Potter 50ps will be delighted to see that these coins have lower mintages than any of the previous Beatrix Potter coins issued in 2016 and 2017.
In fact, three out of the four Beatrix Potter 50ps released in 2018 are even rarer than the 2016 Jemima Puddle-Duck 50p – previously thought of as the rarest Beatrix Potter 50p in circulation!
With a mintage of just 1,400,000 the 2018 Peter Rabbit and 2018 Flopsy Bunny 50ps are sure to become incredibly sought-after amongst collectors, as they take joint second spot on our mintage figure chart (which excludes Olympic 50ps).
These two coins, alongside the 2018 Mrs Tittlemouse (mintage: 1,700,000) have pushed the 2017 Sir Isaac Newton (mintage: 1,801,500) off the podium.
Whilst the 2018 Tailor of Gloucester has a slightly higher mintage at 3,900,000 the other three coins in the 2018 series have only been pipped to the post by the UK’s rarest 50p in circulation, the Kew Gardens.
With a mintage of 210,000 this 50p is considered the holy grail of change collecting and dominates the Change Checker mintage figure charts and Scarcity Index.
What about the Olympic 50ps?
In 2012, the release of the Olympic 50p series kick started a collecting frenzy across the nation.
It’s estimated that around 75% of these coins have been removed from circulation by collectors which means they are incredibly sought-after, especially considering these 50ps have some of the lowest mintage figures in circulation…
Many of the Olympic 50ps have a mintage less than 2,000,000 with the rarest (the Olympic Football 50p) having a mintage of just 1,125,500.
Taking these rare 50ps into consideration, the 2018 Peter Rabbit and Flopsy Bunny coins would sit in joint sixth position, below the Kew Gardens, Football, Wrestling, Judo and Triathlon 50ps.
£2 Coin Update
As well as updating the 50p mintage figures, The Royal Mint also revealed that no £2 coins were issued into circulation last year.
There have been no new £2 coins issued into circulation since 2016, which may in part be due to the introduction of the new 12-sided £1 coin in 2017.
The new definitive £2 was released in 2015, replacing the Technology £2 with a Britannia design, but for the past two years it seems there has not been enough demand to issue this coin for circulation.
In fact, aside from the £1 coin, no new definitive coins were released at all last year, from the 1p to the £2 coin.
A-Z 10p update
Despite no definitive 10p coins entering circulation in 2018, The Royal Mint have confirmed mintage figures for the highly popular A-Z of Great Britain 10p coins.
From Angel of the North to Zebra Crossing, 26 new 10p designs were released in 2018 to celebrate what makes Britain British.
Initially, 2.6 million of these coins were released, followed by another 2.6 million later in the year.
However, up until now the individual mintages for each design had not been confirmed.
The mintage figure update now reveals that 220,000 of each design entered circulation in 2018, which makes the individual 2018 10p coins almost as rare as the Kew Gardens 50p…
Have you been lucky enough to find any of these coins in your change? It’s always exciting when new mintage figures are revealed and your realise just how rare the change in your pocket really is!
We’ll be updating the Change Checker Scarcity Index next month and it will be exciting to see how these new figures impact the index.
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
HI MARTIN, YES I ALSO RECEIVED THE MINTAGE FIGURES FROM ROYAL MINT WHICH CONFIRMS YOUR 1,860 JANE AUSTEN £2 INTO CIRCULATION, THEY ALSO TOLD ME ONLY 400 2017 AVIATION £2 COINS WERE REALISED AT SPECIAL EVENTS INTO CIRCULATION, SO THEY ARE OUT THERE BUT RARE AS HENS TEETH.
According to the royal mint figures, there were basically no *definitive* coins under or over £1 released last year? 0 1ps, 2ps, 5ps, 10ps 20ps 50ps or £2 – do you think that’s correct? that would mean the only place you would ever find any of the 2018 definitive coins other than £1 – would be in the annual sets from the year? If so would that make 2018 the year with the least definitive coins released?
It would seem that way… I certainly can’t remember a year when so few definitive coins were released!
Hi Rachele
Can you please tell me which was your first issued mintage figures pyramid and
coin graph printed please, I ask because as far back as the 2002 £2 coins graph
I have been printing a copy and making sets with the real coins to match the graphs
and the pyramids and I have copied every one so far ( I THINK )although the latest
one was a bit of a challenge but I did it, Thank you.
Kind regards
Les.
Hi Les, unfortunately I don’t know for sure when the very first chart went out/whether this was subsequently updated, but I believe the first would have been in 2016. The chart on this blog is the most up to date and shows mintage figures for all 50p coins in circulation.
I work in a shop so yeah, I agree with Jacky, I have a massive advantage of finding coins. However, I know of a few customers who are collectors too and I will save any coins I find to help them complete their collection. I would recommend others to become acquainted with their local shop workers. Most are happy to oblige. Also, I understand why the Mint are trying to make money producing uncirculated coins like Gruffalo. Nobody is forced to buy these. It doesn’t make a collection incomplete by not buying them. I do think they should have minted 2017/18/19 £2 coins for release at some point and not even bothered with the 2019 50p shield. They could have released Hawking, Gruffalo etc.
Rachel, maybe Change checker should separate circulated and uncirculated coins on the app now to clarify what can be found and what needs to be bought.
Hi Craig, really good tip about asking local shop workers to look out for commemorative coins. It’s actually one of our top tips too! It is a shame that we haven’t seen any new £2 coins in circulation for so long. We do have the Face value Coin Ballot to give collectors the chance to own the latest £2 and 50p coins for just face value, but I appreciate it’s not the same as finding them in your change. We are certainly thinking about the Change Checker web app and how we can update this to reflect the current collecting environment.
I have never found one of the alphabet coins in circulation. I agree with Craig in that Change Checker ought to separate circulated and non circulated ‘coins’. The latter are a contradiction in terms as they are not to be found in your purse or pocket. I hope you are not tempted to include the 2019 10p’s in the App as I will cease collecting. I enjoy collecting but find I’m buying more than I find from circulation. I’m also not sure what the Scarcity Index is measuring if coins are released on request around various parts of the country.
In Derby there was an initial rush of ALPHABET 10p Coins in reasonable numbers as I received some I,T, and Q 10p in my change without specifically asking for them,but after a week or two everything seemed to dry up.So I decided to get a sealed £100 bag from my Bank and lo and behold…..not ONE of the Alphabet 10p coins,were in the 1000 coins,so I had to console myself with filling the gaps in my Standard 10p collection.
Why not put all coins into circulation, if the problem is the demand for these coins is dwindling then just put 100,000 or 200,000 of certain coins and bigger numbers for those most needed, that way collectors at least stand a chance of obtaining these coins instead of having to pay high prices straight away, if you are lucky to find the smaller MINTAGE coins then that a bonus which makes coin collecting even more exciting and fair to all. Those who want to buy coins in Bu or proof condition will at least have a MINTAGE figure for all coins issued, not the situation we see now, as rich said all coins whether circulated Bu or proof can still be spent,that’s if you want to break up your set or cased coin.
I purchased a £50 silver proof coin, I can take it into Tesco stores and buy £50 of goods with it or weigh it in for silver scrap value, as a coin it is still legal tender at face value,
No you can’t take a £50 coin into Tesco and spend it! The silver £20, £50 and £100 pieces have been really controversial and there’s been loads of stuff online about this, because although “Legal Tender” (which is explained on the Royal Mint website as having a very narrow definition in law), the Royal Mint instructed the banks not to accept them, meaning effectively they are totally useless as money and can now be bought for way less than face value on ebay.
Such a shame that neither the 2017 and 2018 £2 commemoratives were issued into circulation, meaning there is zero chance of finding one in your change and the only way to get one is to buy it. Well, I, for one, will go without!
I have a £2 Jane Austen coin from 2017 that I got in my change from a pub, they are out there but are rare as hens teeth. Royal Mint confirmed to me on Twitter and through a freedom of information request that there were 1860 of these coins released in to circulation in Hampshire.
They also said they would announce these figures early 2020 so I’m hoping that I happen to have what could possibly be one of the rarest £2 coins out there. The lack of info from anywhere in the meantime is killing me!
its already come to my attention alot of peop who work in shops,banks,post offices,bettimg shops ect,ect,are collectors so they get first pick,so im afaid us public aint got much chance,unless you buy coins at stupid prices,everythin now is dog eats dog.
When you have to pay £9.00 plus the postage added to obtain a £2 coin they are more of a token than a real coin. It’s too costly to use them as a REAL CURRENCY coin, and it is unlikely that you’ll find them in your change
Now that we know the mintage figures of 2018, when will the 2018 50ps appear on the scarcity index?
Hi Elliot, the next Scarcity Index is due out next month and this will include the new coins. It will be really interesting to see how this affects the index!
A-Z 2.6 million = 2.6 million =5.2 million divided by 26 = 200,000 figres must be wrong some where 220,000 mutiplyed by 26 = 5.72 million
Good point Kenneth. Perhaps the original figures were just an approximation.
I have yet to see the alphabet 10p coin, and people that i’ve spoken too, haven’t either. probably don’t this far south
I haven’t found one either John 🙁 Although each design is almost as rare as the Kew Gardens, so I see why they are so hard to find.
Royal Mint have probably circulated so few alphabet coins so that avid collectors end up purchasing the coins rather than finding them in their change. I love collecting coins but I feel everything changed after the release of the Olympic 50ps, after which the Mint starting minting commemoratives in excessive numbers, This has happened to such an extent that regular coins are no longer being circulated and are actually becoming more collectable than the commemoratives
I have
S,b,a & k. Very hard to find though X
Seems that most of the coins the Royal Mint produces these days are not ‘real currency’ as very few of them seem to make it into circulation. They seem to exist purely as a money-making exercise for the Mint. There hasn’t been a new £2 issued for two consecutive years (Ia m assuming that the 2017 and 2018 commemoratives had zero circulation) . I guess as cash becomes more obsolete this situation will only increase as the Mint cannot survive on just producing circulating coins – probably why they have also diversifies into making jewellery these days.
Everybody keeps saying they’re ‘not real currency’ just because it hasn’t gone into circulation. Those coins are still 100% legal tender, you can take one of those coins and legally spend it in a shop and put it into circulation if you wanted.
They are NOT tokens, and they ARE real currency!
Hi rich so is the £5 coins minted by the royal Mint legal tender
Rich is right, they are legal tender and perfectly acceptable as money, and whilst I totally agree pristine examples should be available to collectors at a premium (to appreciate the fine detail of the design etc), I think surely the principle should be that some are also released at face value, if anything to keep up the fun of “change checking” – I go along with Tony’s comment above.
As for the £5 coins, yes they are legal tender but hardly anyone will accept them, but they can be paid into your bank account, same as the 25p crown and the old type £2, they are all still valid as money (much to the annoyance of the banks I expect).
Hi Rachel, can you confirm please… if for example they say the 2018 Peter Rabbit mintage is 1.4 million, does that mean that’s the TOTAL produced of that coin in standard form…. or does that Just refer to how many went in circulation? I.e. if I buy 1 of them for £4.50 here, has that come off the 1.4 mill?
Many thanks Stuart
Hi Stu, that’s a really great question. The 1.4 million refers to the coins issued for circulation. If you were to buy one from Change Checker it would be a Brilliant Uncirculated coin, with separate mintage figures to the circulation versions.
Hi Rachel, Could you tell me which 50p’s have not gone into circulation. The only ones I’m certain of are 2009,10,11 and 16 part shield.
Hi Nigel, out of the definitive 50ps, the ones not to enter circulation were issued in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2016 and 2018