50p Coins
Why Jemima Puddle-Duck is already the most sought after Beatrix Potter 50p
When The Royal Mint released the mintage figures for the 2016 Beatrix Potter 50p Coins, what immediately caught the attention of collectors was the minimal amount of Jemima Puddle-Duck coins that had been struck compared to the rest of the series.
Only 2.1 million Jemima Puddle-Duck coins were released into circulation, that’s less than 20% of Peter rabbit and half the amount of Squirrel Nutkin which has the 2nd lowest mintage.
When one coin in a series has a much lower mintage figure, collectors struggle to complete the set. We’ve started to see evidence of this as swap requests from our Swap Centre users have increased dramatically.
Swap Ratio
For every one Jemima Puddle-Duck coin we see listed as available to swap, there are more than 8 users requesting this coin.
The rarity of this coin is also highlighted by our Scarcity 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
How Gordon Brown saved the UK from a “Finnish Coin Disaster”
In 2017, The Mint of Finland proposed a set of five €5 coins paying tribute to the nation’s independence. Each coin was intended to honour 1 of 5 periods of time during the 100 years since independence in 1917, however, the designs quickly hit the headlines, and not for a good reason…
The first coin in the series represented the period 1917-1939 and featured a depiction of a Finnish Civil War execution scene with the inscription ‘Civil War’. Within just 24 hours of the design’s reveal, the Mint of Finland announced that they would be scrapping the collection due to uproar about the gruesome scene on this coin and another in the series.
Image credit: Coin World
The coins were due to be put on sale on 4th May 2017, but the Communications Director for the Mint of Finland confirmed that no coins had been struck.
Minister of Finance, Petteri Orpo said: “I did not give sufficient attention to the visual designs and relied instead on the proposals put forward by the Collector Coin Committee. I would like to express my sincere regret over what has occurred. The decree will be overturned and we will start again from the beginning.”
The Mint of Finland said that it “deeply regrets all the bad feeling caused by the images in the collector coin series.”
History repeated
The Finnish Centennial disaster wasn’t the first time that a coin design had caused a commotion…
Back in 2005, two 50p coin designs were put forward to represent 150 years of the Victoria Cross medal, which is the highest honour for gallantry which can be given to British and Commonwealth forces. However, one of the designs was quickly rejected by Gordon Brown (Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time).
The Victoria Cross Heroic Acts 50p was originally reported to feature a British soldier being shot in the back, but Mr Brown ordered it to be redesigned. A letter from Brown’s aides to The Royal Mint read “He (Mr. Brown) appreciates the designer’s attempt to portray the courage and selflessness of the British soldier carrying a wounded comrade while under fire. But he feels that the particular image of a British soldier apparently about to be shot in the back will not seem appropriate to many people.”
The final design on the 2006 Victoria Cross Heroic Acts 50p by sculptor Clive Duncan features a soldier carrying a wounded comrade, in front of the Victoria Cross medal outline. It has a circulating mintage of 10,000,500, making it one of the more common commemorative 50p designs in circulation.
50p “Scarcity Index” Launched – discover which UK 50p coins are the most collectable
Can’t wait – click here to reveal the UK’s “scarcest” 50p coin
Change Checker has launched the 50p “Scarcity Index”, which tracks which circulating 50p coins are the most scarce and collectable.
The index uses a unique combination of mintage, collecting and swap data to give the most up-to-date picture of today’s 50p coin collecting market.
The top 5
There’s no surprise to find Kew Gardens at the top of the list. With a mintage of just 210,000, it is also the least owned and most requested swap. The next 4 scarcest coins are all from the 2012 Olympics – Football, Triathlon, Judo and Wrestling.
The recent Beatrix Potter 50p coins also rank highly, with Jemima Puddle-Duck and Squirrel Nutkin coming in at numbers 6 and 7 – based largely on their low level of ownership and high swap requests, as official mintages are yet to be confirmed by the Royal Mint.
Click here to see the full list
How the Scarcity Index works
Generally collectors have had to rely upon mintage figures to identify the scarcest coins. But they only tell part of the story. Trying to find a good quality coin from 15 – 20 years ago, even for a higher mintage issue, is much more challenging than a more recent issue, as coins become damaged over time and are ultimately removed from circulation.
Additionally, some designs are more hoarded than others by people who might not normally collect coins – the Beatrix Potter issues being a classic example. Finally, it can be up to a couple of years before the Royal Mint eventually confirms the actual mintage for an issue.
That’s why we have combined the mintage information with two other key pieces of information.
- How many of each design are listed as “collected” by Change Checkers, indicating the relative ease of finding a particular coin.
- The number of times a design has been requested as a swap over the previous 3 months, showing the current level of collector demand.
Importantly, as new coins are released and popularity rises and falls across different designs the Scarcity Index will be updated quarterly allowing Change Checkers to track the relative performance of the UK’s circulation coins.
How much are my coins worth?
The Scarcity Index does not necessarily equate to value but it is certainly an effective indicator. Whilst Kew Gardens 50p coins command prices on eBay of between £70 and £100, other coins towards the top of the scarcity index typically achieve a premium of roughly 10 – 12 times face value.
But don’t forget the joy of Change Collecting is that you have always have a chance of finding any one of these coins in your change – even Kew Gardens – you just have to be sharp-eyed.
What about £1 and £2 Coins?
The £1 Scarcity Index has already been published for the round £1 coins and, because they are no longer being issued, this is now set in stone. Change Checker will be releasing the £2 Scarcity Index later in April.
