The series was first minted in 2016 to mark 150 years since the author’s birth, but has had some further releases since. It depicted an Olympic swimmer in action, with wavy lines across their face to represent water, and was one of only 600 coins ever produced before the design was amended to show the athlete more prominently, said the Daily Mirror.īeatrix Potter: Aside from the Kew Gardens coin and the Olympics designs, the only other three in Changechecker’s top 20 are related to Beatrix Potter. In 2019, one Olympic 50p sold on eBay for £590, 1,180 times its face value.

These dominate the Changechecker scarcity index, with the football, judo, tennis, triathlon and wrestling designs rounding out the top five. Last year, one sold on eBay for 340 its face value at £170 - though that’s small fry compared to one spotted by The Sun back in February, which was going for £707.Ģ012 Olympics: There were 29 different 50p designs released in 20 to mark the 2012 Olympics Games in London, with each design representing a different sport. It depicts the Gardens’ famous pagoda and only a relatively small batch of 210,000 were minted, “meaning you can now expect around £80 for one”, said iNews.Ĭoin collecting book Spend It? Save It? What should you do?, written by Phil Mussell and the production team of Coin News Magazine, estimates the coin’s value at around £100. Kew Gardens: The rarest 50p coin currently in general circulation is a Kew Gardens piece, designed to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Royal Botanic Gardens in 2009. Here are the top ones, according to the latest list, updated in November 2021. To help spot which 50p coins are worth holding on to, experts at have compiled an index that tracks the scarcity of 50p coins. Which 50p coins are the most valuable overall? And while a gold piedfort proof Jubilee coin will set collectors back £2,185, the brilliant finish comes in at £7, according to the Royal Mint. The precious metal from which the coin is made, and whether it has a “proof” finish can also be a determining factor in valuation. “However, it’s important to remember that not all commemorative coins are made equal,” the auction house added. “Non-circulating commemorative coins are particularly sought after by collectors due to their aesthetic appeal or rarity value”, so the Platinum Jubilee coin could be a piece worth holding on to. But generally, the rarer the coin, the more valuable it is.

“There’s no hard and fast rule” that can be applied to coin valuation, said auctioneers Warwick & Warwick. Some 50p coins are worth considerably more than their face value, with eagle-eyed collectors, or numismatists, willing to pay huge sums for rare editions.

Collecting 50p coins