Everyone is being encouraged to check their change for an “extra-special” 50p coin that tops the Royal Mint’s list of its rarest coins.
You could be sitting on a fortune you didn’t even know about, as the Royal Mint revealed its rarest 50p coins currently in circulation.
Since moving to pounds and pence in 1971, more than 70 variations of the 50p coin have been minted, including several rare designs which could be worth a lot more than 50p.
One highlighted by the Royal Mint as being “extra-special” is the first design of the 2011 Olympic Games aquatics 50p sure to “get collectors excited”.
They explained: “The design was created by Jonathan Olliffe, and it depicts a swimmer in action with fluid lines struck into the metal representing the waves.
“In the rare first design, these lines covered the swimmer’s face. Soon after its release, the coin was tweaked to make the face more visible, but not before the first design made it out into the world.
“One of the most exciting aspects of this special 50p is that no one knows exactly how many entered circulation before the changes were made, only that numbers are extremely limited.
“This is often the case with error coins, and they immediately become a collectable piece. Few have ever been sold and many take pride of place in private collections, but there’s always a chance this valuable coin could find its way to you.”
Other rare coins in include The famous Kew Gardens 50p remains the most coveted coin in circulation, with a mintage of just 210,000, the Mint said.
What makes a coin valuable?
The 50 pence piece has become the most valued and collected coin in the UK, with many collectable designs appearing on its heptagonal canvas.
Its 27.5mm diameter makes it the largest of any British coin, and allows space for decorative pictures. It has often been used to celebrate big events over the past 50 years of British history.
The rarest coins tend to be of the greatest value, with the mintage (number of coins with each design made) being the fundamental attraction for collectors.
Along with the design, other aspects of the coin which increase value are the condition of the coin and whether it has an error in its design.
The way in which it is sold can also determine the coin’s value - while some coin collectors will bid vast amounts of money on ebay or at auction, others opt for more robust valuations by selling via a coin dealer.
Top 10 most valuable 50p coins, according to Royal Mint
Here is a list of the top 10 most valuable coins, when they were made and how many were minted:
- Olympic Aquatics (2011), unknown
- Kew Gardens (2009), 210,000
- Olympic Wrestling (2011), 1,129,500
- Olympic Football (2011), 1,161,500
- Olympic Judo (2011), 1,161,500
- Olympic Triathlon (2011), 1,163,500
- Peter Rabbit (2018), 1,400,000
- Flopsy Bunny (2018), 1,400,000
- Olympic Tennis (2011), 1,454,000
- Olympic Goalball (2011), 1,615,500
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here