Top four 50p coins shortlisted. Vote for your favourite!

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 50p coin, we’ve been asking Change Checkers to vote for their favourite UK 50p coin EVER!

With over 70 different designs issued by The Royal Mint since 1969, choosing an overall favourite is no easy task and so we decided to first split the coins into four categories – Modern, Olympic, Beatrix Potter and Pre 1997.

Change Checkers have been voting for their favourite coin from each category and the shortlisted results are now in, ready for the overall winning design to be chosen. Vote now in our poll at the bottom of this blog.

Top Modern 50p – 2017 Sir Isaac Newton

Top Olympic 50p – Football

Top Beatrix Potter 50p – 2016 Beatrix Potter

Top Pre 1997 – D-Day Landings

2017 Sir Isaac Newton

Sir Isaac Newton is widely recognised as one of the most influential scientists of all time and a key figure in the scientific revolution. He changed our understanding of mathematics and physics, redefined the way we see the world and shaped the security of our currency in his role as Master of the Mint.

Designed by Aaron West, this 50p coin has been issued to commemorate the achievements of Sir Isaac Newton and remembers the legacy he left.

Click here to find out more about the coin >>

Olympic Football

The football 50p was possibly the most publicised of all the Olympic 50p designs, as it features the hotly debated offside rule in the form of a simple diagram.

Designer Neil Wolfson, a sports journalist by trade, chose an image which he felt would encapsulate the sport whilst also provoke discussion.

Click here to find out more about the coin >>

2016 Beatrix Potter

To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Beatrix Potter, the Royal Mint released this 50p to celebrate Beatrix herself.

Designed by Emma Noble, the coin includes elements that celebrate Beatrix as the artist behind some of the best-loved characters in children’s literature along with the nostalgic font used for the inscription.

Click here to find out more about the coin >>

Pre 1997 D-Day Landings

On 6th June 1944, a date known ever since as D-Day, a mighty alliance of British, American and Commonwealth armed forces crossed over from England to Normandy and began an assault on occupying German troops.

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of these D-Day landings in 1994, The Royal Mint released this 50p designed by sculptor John Mills depicts an armada of ships and planes heading in one direction.

Click here to find out more about the coin >>

Now that the top four coins have been shortlisted, it’s time to find out which 50p is the overall favourite amongst Change Checkers.

Vote in our poll below to pick the best 50p coin ever issued and we’ll announce the winning design later this week.


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

Change Checker Web App Banner 2 Amends 1024x233 1 1024x233 - Vote for your favourite 50p coins from the last 50 years!

Sign up today at: www.changechecker.org/app

The Royal Mint to re-issue the UK’s RAREST 50p

The UK’s RAREST 50p coin in circulation will be re-issued by The Royal Mint in 2019 it has been confirmed.

The Kew Gardens 50p hit the headlines in February 2014 when it was revealed as the most scarce 50p in circulation. At the peak of the hype surrounding its value, some coins were exchanging hands for hundreds of pounds!

According to the Royal Proclamation, published on 8 November, a total of TEN new 50p coins will be issued in 2019, all of which will be re-issues of previous designs.

The coins to be re-issued comprise:

  1. Britannia 50p – the figure of Britannia, seated beside a lion, with a shield resting against her right side, holding a trident in her right hand and an olive branch in her left hand; and the figure “50” together with the words “NEW PENCE”;
  2. D-Day Landings 50p– a design representing the D-Day landings of the Allied invasion force heading for Normandy and filling the sea and sky, with the inscription “50 PENCE”;
  3. Roger Bannister 50p –  the legs of a running athlete with a stylized stopwatch in the background and, with the inscription “50 PENCE”;
  4. Victoria Cross Medal 50p – a depiction of the obverse and reverse of a Victoria Cross with the date “29. JAN 1856” in the centre of the reverse of the Cross, with the inscription “VC” “FIFTY PENCE”;
  5. Victoria Cross Soldier 50p – a depiction of a soldier carrying a wounded comrade with an outline of the Victoria Cross surrounded by a sunburst effect in the background with the inscription “FIFTY PENCE” ;
  6. Boy Scouts 50p – a fleur-de-lis superimposed over a globe and accompanied by the inscription “BE PREPARED” and the dates “∙ 1907 ∙” and “∙ 2007 ∙”, and the denomination “FIFTY PENCE”;
  7. Kew Gardens 50p – a design showing the pagoda, a building strongly associated with the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, encircled by a vine and accompanied by the dates “1759” and “2009”, with the word “KEW” at the base of the pagoda;
  8. Battle of Hastings 50p – a design showing the scene from the Bayeux tapestry depicting King Harold with an arrow in his eye accompanied by the inscription “BATTLE OF HASTINGS 1066” and the date “2016”;
  9. Battle of Britain 50p – a design showing airmen running to their planes with enemy aircraft overhead accompanied by the inscription “THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN 1940”;
  10. Girl Guides 50p – a design which depicts a repeating pattern of the current identity of Girlguiding UK, accompanied by the inscription “CELEBRATING ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF GIRLGUIDING UK” and the denomination “50 PENCE”.

It’s expected the coins will be issued in 2019 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 50p with commemorative collector’s editions in Cupro-Nickel, Silver and Gold being made available. It is not yet clear whether any of the new 50ps will be issued for circulation.

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