Mintages
UPDATED: Commemorative 50p Coin Mintages
Earlier in the year, we updated our Change Checker Guide to UK Commemorative Coin Mintages which included details of all the coins issued into circulation in 2017.
But The Royal Mint has just updated its mintage figures for 2017-dated 50p coins.
It won’t be a surprise that the 2009 Kew Gardens remains king of the 50p coins, but owners of the 2017 Sir Isaac Newton 50p will be glad to hear that the coin has managed to keep its sought-after 2nd place position on the chart. However, the final mintage has crept up by 1,500 bringing the total to 1,801,500
Whilst all four Beatrix Potter 50ps already had fairly high mintages when the figures were first revealed, the final mintages have since increased, the obvious change being the 2017 Benjamin Bunny 50p which has more than doubled. It has been confirmed that further Benjamin Bunny 50ps went into circulation during 2018, bringing the total mintage to 25,000,000.
Want to add the 2017 Jane Austen £2 to your collection?
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UPDATE: How rare is my coin? A Change Checker guide to UK coin mintages
You might remember our blog from last year reviewing 2016 coin mintages, but we’ve also updated our Change Checker Guide to UK coin mintages which includes all the details we have so far on the coins issued in 2017.
Have you managed to find any yet?
Updated mintages including 2017 dated 50p coins
Not surprisingly, Kew Gardens remains king of the 50p coins, with Jemima Puddle Duck also sitting in top three, however a new contender has knocked this sought-after Beatrix Potter 50p off second spot, as the 2017 Sir Isaac Newton 50p takes 2nd place just below Kew Gardens.
The 2017 Sir Isaac Newton 50p was issued to commemorate the achievements of one of the most influential scientists of all time and a key figure in the scientific revolution, as well as being master at The Royal Mint for three decades. Although this coin comes nowhere near to the Kew Gardens’ scarce mintage of 210,000 and is closer to Jemima Puddle Duck’s mintage of 2,100,000, still only 1,800,000 of these coins were minted, meaning our top three each have at least 1 million less coins in circulation than any other 50p.
Other newcomers to our updated UK mintage guide include the 2017 Beatrix Potter coins – Jeremy Fisher, Tom Kitten, Benjamin Bunny and Peter Rabbit. These four coins have fairly high mintage figures, with Peter Rabbit in fact having the highest mintage figure of all circulation 50ps at 19,300,000. This is thought to be due to the staggering popularity of the 2016 Beatrix Potter coins and high demand for the Peter Rabbit coin in particular. It will be incredibly interesting to see what the mintage figures for the 2018 Beatrix Potter characters will be.
But what about the 2017 £2 coins?
We haven’t been able to include the 2017 Jane Austen £2 or the WW1 Aviation £2 coins in our charts yet as the mintage figures are yet to be released, however you can view our previous £2 mintage figures here. There hasn’t been any feedback from Change Checkers finding these coins in circulation but we’re hoping they’ll turn up soon. We will of course be the first to update you as soon as we have more information on these coins.
So far in 2018, seven new 50ps have been released, including the Representation of the People Act, Peter Rabbit, Flopsy Bunny, Tailor of Gloucester, Mrs Tittlemouse, Paddington at the Station and Paddington at the Palace. As far as we’re aware the coins have not entered circulation and therefore we don’t expect the mintage figures to be released for quite a while.
Want to add the 2017 Jane Austen £2 to your collection?
Own it today in Brilliant Uncirculated quality. Secure yours here >>
Could the 2018 Sir Isaac Newton 50p coin become the rarest 50p EVER?
The mintage figures for the 2017 UK base metal 50p coins have been released but that’ll have to wait a minute… there’s some even more exciting news!
The Royal Mint have announced that there will be a 2018 Sir Isaac Newton 50p coin but the ONLY place you’ll be able to get your hands on one of these is The Royal Mint Experience in Llantrisant, Wales! Interestingly, these 2018 dated coins will not be released into circulation.
Anybody visiting The Mint will get to strike a 2018 Sir Isaac Newton 50p coin but this will only be for a short period of time and subject to availability.
The ONLY place to get your hands on a 2018 dated Sir Isaac Newton 50p coin is at The Royal Mint Experience! (Image: The Royal Mint)
We’re predicting that due to the short time frame and visitor numbers, there could well be substantially less than 210,000 of these coins struck, meaning the 2018 Sir Isaac Newton 50p coin could well have a lower mintage figure than even the Kew Gardens 50p!
2017 UK Base Metal Mintage Figures
Early on Christmas Eve morning The Royal Mint released the mintage figures for the 2017 UK base metal commemorative coins. What immediately caught our eye was the surprisingly low number of Sir Isaac Newton 50p coins that had been struck.
At just 1.8 million the Sir Isaac Newton 50p coin has a lower mintage than the 2016 Jemima Puddle-Duck coin. Making it the SECOND LOWEST UK circulation 50p coin behind Kew Gardens (excluding the Olympic 50p range).
Granted it is someway behind Kew Gardens, which has a mintage figure of just 210,000, but it is the only other UK commemorative circulation 50p coin with a mintage under 2 million.
Good news for Beatrix Potter Fans
Unlike the 2016 Beatrix Potter 50p coins, the good news is that all the 2017 coins have a consistent mintage figure. In 2016 the Jemima Puddle-Duck 50p had a substantially lower mintage figure than the other coins from the series making it very hard for Change Checkers to complete their sets.
All 4 of the 2017 Beatrix Potter coins have a mintage of at least 9.3 million meaning there shouldn’t be any problems completing your 2017 sets.
It’s going to be interesting to see how these new mintage figures affect our Change Checker Scarcity Index update, due at the end of January.
What about the 2017 £2 coins?
As yet, we are still waiting for the mintage figures for the 2017 Jane Austen and 2017 First World War Aviation £2 coins to be released. We’ll be sure to update you as soon as anything is announced.
Own the 2017 UK Isaac Newton CERTIFIED BU 50p
This special 50p coin commemorates the legacy of Sir Isaac Newton, genius of the Scientific Revolution and one of the most famous figures to ever hold the role of Master of the Mint.
Designed by Aaron West, the reverse of this striking coin is based on elements of Proposition 11, in Book One of Newton’s Principia Mathematica. Whilst the obverse features the Jody Clark portrait of Her Majesty the Queen.
This specially struck 50p coin comes securely encapsulated and as a Change Checker CERTIFIED BRILLIANT UNCIRCULATED issue, you’ll know your coin will be protected forever and guaranteed by its Certified Hologram.