Posts Tagged ‘Peter Rabbit’
The Last-Ever Peter Rabbit 50p!
In 2019, the last-ever Peter Rabbit 50p was officially released!
It would be hard to find someone who hadn’t heard of this naughty little rabbit. The central character of Beatrix Potter’s beloved children’s stories, Peter Rabbit has featured on many staple collectables.
Emma Noble’s design on this coin, which features an original illustration of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter herself, perfectly captures Peter Rabbit’s cheeky personality, as he can be seen crawling under Mr. McGregor’s fence!
Where it all started
It was in 2016 that Peter Rabbit escaped from Mr. McGregor’s garden and made his first debut on United Kingdom coinage.
Issued to celebrate 150 years since the birth of renowned Children’s author, Beatrix Potter, this 50p changed coin collecting forever.
There were five Beatrix Potter 50ps issued in 2016, including the incredibly popular Jemima Puddle-Duck, which, for a long time, was considered the rarest Beatrix Potter coin in circulation. She was also joined by fellow characters Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and Squirrel Nutkin.
A very special 50p was issued the same year, celebrating Beatrix Potter herself and features her silhouette and emblem.
This series of coins continued into 2017, 2018 and 2019. Fifteen Beatrix Potter coins were issued between 2016-2019, each featuring one of Potter’s delightful characters, from Flopsy Bunny to Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle.
Peter Rabbit is the only character to feature more than once in the Beatrix Potter 50p series, with no less than 5 coins issued to celebrate the nation’s favourite little rabbit.
Sadly, Peter Rabbit’s 50p tale has now come to an end. It has been confirmed that the 2020 50p will be the very last UK Peter Rabbit 50p to be issued!
Which Beatrix Potter coins are the rarest?
To celebrate the release of thie final Peter Rabbit 50p, we’ve taken a look back at the mintage figures for the different Beatrix Potter 50ps to find out which ones are the rarest in circulation…
Following the release of the 2018 mintage figures, we’ve seen the 2018 Peter Rabbit and Flopsy Bunny 50ps take joint top spot on the Beatrix Potter Mintage Chart. With mintages of just 1,400,000, these coins are the rarest Beatrix Potter coins in circulation and have already proved incredibly popular with collectors!
We also saw the 2018 Mrs. Tittlemouse claim its spot on the podium, pushing Jemima Puddle-Duck – previously thought of as the rarest Beatrix Potter 50p in circulation – further down the chart, with a circulating mintage of 1,700,000.
So collectors that have held onto their 2018 Beatrix Potter 50ps will be delighted to see this! If you don’t have these coins in your collection yet, now’s the time to keep your eyes out to hunt down these sought-after 50ps.
Fill the gaps in your Beatrix Potter 50p collection
The 2020 Peter Rabbit 50p is no longer available, but you can shop our Beatrix Potter 50p range to fill the gaps in your collection >>
Do you know how rare the Great Fire of London £2 really is?
With 37 different £2 coin designs in circulation, it’s very tough to choose a favourite, but one of mine is certainly the Great Fire of London £2, issued in 2016 to mark the 350th anniversary of one of the most well-known disasters to hit London.
The reverse of the coin, designed by Aaron West, depicts the city of London burning in flames from a distance and makes for an eye catching design which I’m sure many collectors love just as much as I do.
But are you lucky enough to have one of these coins in your collection?
Whilst this coin was previously considered ‘Less Common’ (as rated on our Scarcity Index), it has now been confirmed that the mintage figure for the Great Fire of London £2 was mistakenly listed and the coin is in fact rarer than we once thought…
Mintage Charts
To reflect the change to the Great Fire of London £2 coin’s mintage figure, we’ve updated our mintage charts to show you how rare this coin actually is compared to the other £2’s in circulation.
The Great Fire of London has actually jumped up 15 places on the mintage chart now that the correct figure of 1,625,000 has been confirmed.
The previous figure of 5,135,000 placed the coin in the middle of the pack, just slightly rarer than the Gunpowder Plot £2, however it can now be found amongst the London Underground £2 coins, nearer the top of the mintage chart.
Scarcity Index
These changes are also evident on our latest Scarcity Index update.
Whilst the coin has only moved up the index by 4 coin places, this is the biggest movement on the £2 index and the coin’s Scarcity Index score has actually jumped up from 18 to 34 – almost doubling from the previous index!
Historically, the Great Fire of London £2 has always scored in the mid to high teens, but the updated mintage figures now reflect the fact that the coin is in fact harder than previously believed to find in your change.
Have any other coins been affected?
It wasn’t just the Great Fire of London £2 coin which was affected by the updated mintage figures… There were in fact 4 coins from 2016 with previously incorrect figures.
The changes haven’t made much of an impact to either of these coin’s rankings for the Scarcity Index, with both coins actually moving down 1 place on the index pictured above.
With regards to our mintage figure charts, the two coins have simply swapped positions, as can be seen below.
With regards to 50p coins, the only coin affected was the 2016 Peter Rabbit 50p.
This relatively small increase has had no effect on the coin’s ranking on the Scarcity Index or position on the mintage figure chart, which can be seen below.
Whilst the changes to the mintage figures for the Shakespeare £2s and Peter Rabbit 50p have made minimal impact, it’s fair to say that with almost 4 million less Great Fire of London £2 coins in circulation than previously thought, the scarcity of this coin has definitely increased, making it even more special for those of you lucky enough to have one in your collection.
Add the Great Fire of London circulation £2 to your collection!
Following the updated mintage figures, I’m sure collectors will be keen to make sure this coin is added to their collection.
Click here to secure the coin in circulation quality for £8.00 with FREE p&p
The Return of Peter Rabbit! NEW 2019 coin released!
The BRAND NEW 2019 Peter Rabbit 50p has now been officially released!
In 2016 this mischievous little bunny re-inspired the nation to start checking their change.
And that’s because Beatrix Potter’s enchanting tales of countryside characters were brought to life on UK coinage with The Royal Mint’s introduction of the Beatrix Potter 50p series.
Likened to the 2012 Olympic 50p collecting sensation that gripped the nation, the release of these 50ps, including the very first UK Peter Rabbit coin, started a collecting frenzy across the UK.
And now this loveable little character has once again found his way out of Mr McGregor’s garden and onto a brand new UK 50p coin, for the fourth year running.
First issued to celebrate 150 years since the birth of the renowned Children’s author, Beatrix Potter, these 50p coins have been unprecedented in their popularity.
Thirteen coins have been issued since 2016, each featuring one of Potter’s delightful characters, from Flopsy Bunny to Mrs Tiggy-Winkle and even a special coin which includes elements celebrating Beatrix as the artist behind some of the best-loved characters in children’s literature.
The tale now continues with the 2019 Peter Rabbit 50p coin, featuring an original illustration of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter herself, carefully engraved by Royal Mint coin designer, Emma Noble.
The illustration has been taken from the book, ‘The Tales of Benjamin Bunny’ and shows Peter Rabbit wearing his blue jacket, which he daringly retrieved from Mr McGregor’s garden after losing it in ‘The Tales of Peter Rabbit’.
He can be seen clutching a handkerchief which was used to gather onions from the garden to take back for his aunt.
Taken from Beatrix Potter’s book, ‘The Tales of Benjamin Bunny’
The coin won’t be entering circulation, but is available to purchase in Brilliant Uncirculated quality here >>
There is no doubt that this Peter Rabbit 50p coin will be as popular as the previous years, and I’m sure collectors won’t want to let this bouncy bunny slip through their fingers.
Own the BRAND NEW 2019 Peter Rabbit 50p
This is your chance to be ahead of the crowd and secure your 2019 Peter Rabbit 50p in superior Brilliant Uncirculated condition.
Secure the Brilliant Uncirculated issue today for just £3.99 (+p&p) >>
Sign up for more Beatrix Potter news!
The Royal Mint has not confirmed if more Beatrix Potter coins will be issued this year, but if you’d like to be the first to know about any updates or future Beatrix Potter coins, you can sign up to receive updates using the form below: