The coin with three dates – The Brexit 50p
Following a referendum in 2016, the United Kingdom officially withdrew from the European Union on 31st January 2020. This departure was one of the most significant events to happen in modern history, and Brexit 50p coin was issued to commemorate it.
The withdrawal faced several delays and deferrals, leading to the Brexit 50p – also referred to as the UK Withdrawal from the EU 50p – being produced with THREE different dates and TWO different obverses!
Read on to find out more…
29th March 2019 Brexit 50p
In 2018, it was announced that a UK Brexit 50p would be issued to mark the withdrawal, and the Treasury posted the design on X (then Twitter). The revealed that the coin would feature the words ‘Peace, prosperity and friendship with all nations’ and the date ’29 March 2019′ – the original intended date of withdrawal.
Reportedly, 1,000 Brexit 50ps with the date 29th March 2019 were struck. However, following the deferral of Brexit until October 2019, 990 of these coins were melted down, leaving 10 remaining that are kept under lock and key at The Royal Mint, so it’s impossible to find one in your change.
31st October 2019 Brexit 50p
As the government worked towards the withdrawal on 31st October 2019, the Brexit 50p design was revised to feature the new date. The Royal Mint got to work on striking over a million coins featuring the inscription ’31 October 2019′.
Image credit: Lee Holt, Change Range
On 28th October 2019, the day before Brexit was due to go ahead, it was announced that it would be delayed yet again until 31st January 2020. Therefore, the majority of Brexit 50ps that has been struck featuring the date ’31 October 2019′ had to be melted. These coins were never distributed for circulation by The Royal Mint, however two have been found in circulation.
Lucky collector, Lee Holt, was the first to find a Brexit 50p with the date ’31 October 2019′ (pictured above), and a second was found in 2024 by an anonymous collector.
Two different obverses
What makes this even more interesting is that the two Brexit 50ps with the date ’31 October 2019′ that have been found feature two different obverses!
The obverse on Lee’s coin features Jody Clark’s portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, the year 2019 and the denomination ’50 PENCE’.
Image credit: Lee Holt, Change Range
However, the obverse of the other 31 October 2019 Brexit 50p found (pictured below) is missing the denomination.
Image credit: Lee Holt, Change Range
It’s likely that this coin was struck using the obverse die intended for the 2019 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 50p, as the denomination features on the reverse of that coin. Coins must state both the date and denomination on either the obverse or reverse, so reverse designs that feature the denomination do not need to include the denomination on the obverse.
Worth a small fortune
A numismatic specialist at Spink and Son auction house, Gregory Edmund, described the discovery of the two October 2019 dated Brexit 50ps as a ‘Willy Wonka’s Golden Ticket moment’ and said it was ‘truly electrifying for business’. Gregory said that if the coins were to go up for auction, he would expect them to fetch more than the current Spink & Son record for a circulating coin, which was when a gold 1965 halfpenny with an error sold for £42,000 in 2023.
I’m sure those collectors who have discovered this incredibly rare coin aren’t willing to sell them any time soon, but with an estimated value of more than £42,000 – it’s definitely tempting!
31st January 2020 Brexit 50p
Due to another deferral, The Royal Mint had to once again revise the design of the Brexit 50p to feature the new date ’31 January 2020′.
It was this version of the coin that was finally produced in line with Brexit taking place on 31st January 2020, and 10,001,000 of them entered circulation.
So how rare is the Brexit 50p?
Our latest 50p mintage figure chart shows that the Brexit 50p/UK Withdrawal from the EU 50p with the correct date ’31 January 2020′ ranks a fair way down the list, meaning it’s not particularly rare.
The 2020 Brexit 50p also ranks as ‘common’ on our Scarcity Index, which combines a coin’s mintage figure with with how many collectors have listed the coin as being in their collection on the Change Checker App, and the number of times the coin has been requested as a swap on our Swap Centre.
Check out our latest Scarcity Index >>
Find out more about your coins
If you’re interested in coin collecting, our Change Checker web app is completely free to use!
This is fascinating and why I am an avid coin collector