First-ever Royal 50p! What will the mystery 50p obverse look like?

Change Checkers, we’ve got a special royal announcement…

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has confirmed that her Platinum Jubilee in 2022 will be celebrated with the UK’s FIRST-EVER Royal 50p!

* UPDATE *

The design of the UK’s FIRST ROYAL 50p has JUST been revealed by The Royal Mint! With Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee being the first in the history of our British Royal Family, the number 70 takes centre stage on the reverse design of this 50p.

The Royal Cypher EIIR is also shown on the design of this UK first, above the dates 1952-2022, in a poignant tribute to our nation’s longest reigning monarch.

What an outstanding issue this is going to be! We’ve never before seen a 50p mark such a significant event and it’s certainly got us wondering what this amazing 50p will look like! As this will be the FIRST-EVER UK Royal 50p, we’re expecting increased collector interest…

The Royal Proclamation has also raised an additional level of interest, revealing intriguing details of TWO different obverse designs – one featuring the normal Queen’s head design by Jody Clark and a second portraying Her Majesty on horseback, in what appears to be a nod to her original 1953 Coronation Crown.

We’ve only seen this happen once before which was for the Decimal Day 50p issued in the 2021 Annual Coin Set! The 50p from the Annual Set featured the original Arnold Machin portrait which featured on UK coinage during the time of the decimal change-over, on the obverse instead of her modern one.

2021 UK Decimal Day 50p Coins. Left: Arnold Machin portrait in Annual Set. Right: Jody Clark portrait on individual issue coin.

According to the Proclamation, we’re set to see a number of UK firsts for this coin and we just can’t wait to find out more. It’s only right that the coin issued to mark the first monarch in British history to reach this milestone, should feature a design full of firsts too!

Previous Jubilee coins have proven so popular with collectors but historically these issues have been Crowns and £5 coins. So, I’m certain that the fact the Platinum Jubilee will be the first royal celebration on a UK 50p, it will make this the most popular 50p to date, especially if we can find it in our change!

If you don’t want to miss out on this UK FIRST, which is sure to be popular, make sure you’ve signed up to the Change Checker 50p Subscription Service! You will receive every future UK 50p, delivered to your doorstep, without any of the hassle of ordering the coin yourself!

You can sign up to the Change Checker 50p Subscription Service for free here >>


Don’t miss out! Be one of the first collectors to own the FIRST Royal 50p!

Latest 50p in the Innovation in Science series celebrates century of ground-breaking Insulin discovery

The UK’s Innovation in Science 50p Series continued with the 2021 UK Discovery of Insulin 50pcommemorating 100 years since this ground breaking finding!

Saving millions of lives around the world and triggering a century of diabetes research, the discovery of Insulin in 1921 by Sir Frederick G Banting, Charles H Best and JJR Macleod was one of the greatest medical breakthroughs in history.

2021 UK Discovery of Insulin 50p

In the discovery’s centenary year, the life-changing hormone featured on the UK 50p for the first time.

The design, by Iris De La Torre, features an artistic interpretation of the structure of Insulin along with its molecular formula.

Whilst this was the first UK coin to celebrate the discovery of Insulin, The Royal Canadian Mint also issued a special collector’s set in 2021 to celebrate the historic anniversary…

2021 Canada Discovery of Insulin Collector Card

Whilst 2021 marked 100 years since Sir Frederick G Banting, Charles H Best and JJR Macleod first discovered Insulin at the University of Toronto, it was later purified by James B Collip.

To celebrate this historic anniversary and one of Canada’s most significant contributions to modern medicine, The Royal Canadian Mint issued a special collector’s set.

Included within this set you’ll find two versions of the 2021 Discovery of Insulin $2, with a design portraying the story from laboratory to the isolation of insulin.

As well as the two Discovery of Insulin $2 coins, the set also includes five other denominations issued in 2021, perfectly displayed within the colourful collector card explaining the importance of this Canadian medical breakthrough that changed the world.

Just 100,000 sets were issued for collectors worldwide.

The Discovery of Insulin 50p was the very latest addition to The Royal Mint’s Innovation in Science series which has proven incredibly popular with collectors…

2021 UK Charles Babbage 50p


Charles Babbage was an English mathematician and inventor who originated the concept of a digital programmable computer.

In 2021, in the year marking the 150th year of his passing, The Royal Mint commemorated him on a UK 50p – an addition in their Innovation in Science series.

This 50p, designed by Nigel Tudman and Jas Bhamra, features a clever design which links Babbage’s extraordinary machinery to the digital age.

2021 John Logie Baird 50p

2021 John Logie Baird 50p

It’s hard to imagine life without television but back in the early 1920s, it was a complete unknown.

That was until John Logie Baird successfully produced televised objects in outline in 1924transmitted recognisable human faces in 1925, and demonstrated the televising of moving objects in 1926.

Issued in 20201, to celebrate the life and works of the ‘Father of Television’the design of this 50p coin features key milestones from Baird’s life, presented between the lines of transmission radiating from the centre of the coin.

2020 Rosalind Franklin 50p

2020 Rosalind Franklin 50p

In the year that would have marked her 100th birthday, The Royal Mint released a 50p celebrating the life and crucial work of Rosalind Franklin, the first female scientist to be commemorated on a UK coin.

David Knapton’s striking design of this coin, features a depiction of Rosalind Franklin’s X-ray, ‘Photograph 51’, which revealed the helical structure of DNA, in her laboratory at King’s College, London.

One of Britain’s greatest scientists, Franklin made a crucial finding to the discovery of the double-helix structure of DNA.

2019 Stephen Hawking 50p

2019 Stephen Hawking 50p

In 2019, less than a year since his death, The Royal Mint released a Stephen Hawking 50p coin, honouring his works as one of the most influential physicists of the modern age.

He became the very first person to be celebrated in The Royal Mint’s Innovators in Science series and only the third person to be commemorated on a coin within a year of their death (the others being Winston Churchill and the Queen Mother!)

The reverse of the coin, designed by Edwina Ellis, features a stylised black hole and the inscription ‘Stephen Hawking’ . It also shows the Bekenstein-Hawking formula, which describes the thermodynamic entropy of a black hole.

Time to go ‘Through the Looking-Glass’ one more time…brand new Alice 50p coins from the Isle of Man!

Earlier in the year Change Checker revealed a brand new set of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland 50p coins, authorised for release by the Isle of Man Treasury!

Well today, we have had word that the FINAL 50p coins have been released to celebrate the sequel of Lewis Carroll’s tale nonsense, ‘Through the Looking-glass, and What Alice Found There’.

Alice Through the Looking-Glass 50p Set

Prepare yourself to fall down the rabbit hole one last time with FIVE BRAND NEW 50p coins, each featuring a new design by renowned illustrator Stephen Lee. The designs of these coins are equally as captivating as the first set and likewise depict characters from the book with excerpts of their known quotes, including:

  • Alice “Life what is it but a dream”.
  • The Red Queen “The Queen cried ‘faster, faster!’”
  • The White Queen “That’s the effect of living backwards”.
  • Tweedledum & Tweedledee “There’s nothing to cry about!”
  • March Hare “There’s nothing but hay left now”.

Which coin is your favourite? Let us know in the comments below!

Just like the first BU 50p Set released, only the Alice Single 50p coin will be issued individually. But, you can secure all five stunning coins in Brilliant Uncirculated quality, protectively housed in a bespoke presentation pack, carefully curated by the coins’ designer.

To secure the Alice, Through the Looking-Glass 50p BU Set for your collection for JUST £31.25 (+p&p) click here >>

Strictly Limited Edition

But, if you’re looking for the crème de la crème of these coins, you won’t want to be late for the extremely limited Silver Proof versions

Silver 50p coins are, without doubt, the collector’s favourite and a sell-out is inevitable. 

The complete set is strictly limited to just 1,995 worldwide. When compared to the sell-out story of the 2019 UK Gruffalo Silver Proof 50p, which had a mintage of 25,000, it’s almost certain there will not be enough of these Alice, Through the Looking-Glass Silver Proof 50p sets to satisfy demand.

You can secure yours for your collection by clicking here >>

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland 50p Coin

The Alice 50p coin above is the only coin from the collection to have been issued individually, and it celebrates none other than the main character herself, Alice.

The coin, struck to Brilliant Uncirculated Quality, features a carefully curated design of Alice, peering through the looking-glass on her return to Wonderland, alongside a quote from the book; “Life what is it but a dream”.

This coin is available to order today in Brilliant Uncirculated quality for JUST £6.25 (+p&p) and comes protectively housed in a bespoke presentation pack – the perfect pairing I am sure you agree!

And remember, for those collectors looking for a little bit more adventure, this brand new coin is also available in stunning .925 Sterling Silver with an edition limit of JUST 4,995!

Struck to a pristine Proof finish, with the added extra of selective vivid colour printing to bring the design to life, this coin is, without a doubt, going to be one of the most popular ways to own this BRAND NEW release.

Each coin also comes housed in a presentation case, along with a numbered Certificate of Authenticity, confirming its place in the strict edition limit of JUST 4,995!

To secure yours simply click here >>

Can I find the Alice Through the Looking-Glass 50p coins in my change?

If you’re living on the Isle of Man, then yes!

10,000 of each coin will be entering circulation on the Isle of Man, but when you compare that to the mintage figures for UK coins (our rarest 50p in circulation has a mintage of 210,000) you’ll realise just how few of these coins are actually out there.

Coins issued on the Isle of Man typically have lower mintage figures due to the smaller population of just 84,000 which means that their coins are particularly sought-after amongst collectors.

And, based on the popularity of the first Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Set I’m sure that British Isles collectors will be super quick to snap these ones up!


Alice in Wonderland remains one of the world’s most famous and best-loved children’s tales, with fans spanning across generations.

So with a theme as strong as this, paired with those incredibly low mintage figures and the fact these are the FINAL coins available, I am under no doubt they will be a hit with collectors.

Will you be securing them for your collection? Let us know in the comments below!


Secure the 2021 Through the Looking-Glass 50p BU Set today!

Your Brilliant Uncirculated quality coins will come protectively housed in a bespoke presentation pack, carefully curated by the coins’ designer.

To secure the Alice’s Adventures in Wonderful 50p BU Set for your collection for JUST £31.25 (+p&p) click here >>