Re-igniting an interest THIS month sees the first instalment of a multi-part series on the 50p, written by Hannah Dowling. The 50p has become something of a phenomenon in coin collecting in recent years, something we can probably trace back to the announcement that the 2009 coin commemorating 250 years of Kew Gardens was officially the country’s “rarest” circulating coin with a mintage of less than a quarter of a million. There had been commemorative 50ps before this, of course, starting right back with the EEC Accession “hands” coin in 1973 and, indeed, one of the later examples, that celebrating the UK’s 1992/93 Presidency of what was by now the EC, had a mintage lower even than the Kew coin. But, back then, people weren’t collecting 50ps as they are now, so that rarity was missed by many (it has since been eagerly sought after). In 1997, the size of the 50p changed and, hot on the heels of that, the Royal Mint started using the coin as one of the two that showcased different designs; the £2 coin was, of course, the other. At first, the designs were all related to an anniversary of some kind, the 50th anniversary of the NHS, the 50th anniversary of Roger Bannister’s four-minute mile and so on, but whilst these were collected as items of interest, there still weren’t “50p collectors” as such—simply coin collectors who happened to pull a nice looking coin out of their change. With the Kew coin, suddenly there was a monetary element involved, with that particular 50p changing hands for well over £100. The advent of the internet and auction sites like eBay meant that individuals could sell their coins more easily than ever, and so whilst the 1992/93 coin never attracted much interest in its lifetime, the Kew 50p most certainly did. Then, of course, came the Olympics and suddenly everyone was on the lookout for the full set of 50ps, with rumours flying back and forth about which of the series were the rarest, and thus which might be as valuable as “Kew”. Apart from the underwater swimmer, which was originally only available in packs, it was the football “offside rule” coin that was touted as the one to look out for and, although it did indeed have the lowest mintage (but not by much), there were still over 1.1 million struck and it isn’t considered to be “rare,” and so not that valuable I’m afraid. Nonetheless, such was the interest generated by the Olympic coins that the subsequent commemorative issues also attracted the attention of the public. Then, in 2016, the Beatrix Potter coins started appearing and suddenly everyone we knew was looking out for them. For the first time in ages, it wasn’t just collectors checking their change but children and mums at the cake sales at the school gates, drinkers in pubs, pensioners in shops—all were eagerly searching for Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddleduck, Mrs Tiggywinkle et al; the subsequent children’s character issues were all just as eagerly snapped up and being a “50p collector” was suddenly a thing. In recent years, that has tailed off a little (if you’ll excuse the pun) as the sheer number of 50p coins still in circulation (and a drop in demand from the banks) has meant the Royal Mint has only been able to produce most of the new 50 pence coins for collector packs rather than putting them in circulation, which means there are now fewer new ones to look out for. There have been the Platinum Jubilee coins, and then King Charles III’s first 50ps, of course, and now it seems the new definitive “Salmon” from 2023 is the one to watch for. There is a very low mintage of those issued for circulation (the circulating version has no Tudor Crown privy mark, the one issued in the sets does), but with the vast majority of the seven-siders not likely to be found in change, the number of collectors has waned a little, which I think is a shame. Sure, there aren’t the same number of new coins to look out for, but so what? I cannot for one moment believe that every single 50p collector out there has every single circulating 50p ever issued in their collection. I’m pretty sure there’ll be gaps somewhere, so here is my challenge to all of you: dust off those old albums, dig out that old jar, search through what you have, make a list of what you need and start looking again. Those coins you were missing a few years ago are still missing now but they are out there, changing hands in coffee shops and newsagents as I write. Somebody, right now, has just been given a coin that you’ve been looking for for ages and they have no idea, they’ll simply spend it in the next shop. So don’t worry that there’s not the plethora of Paddingtons that there once was, don’t be down that the dinosaurs are only available in packs, there are still plenty of circulating coins that are available, and I’m sure there are plenty that you don’t have. So, use this new series of articles to re-ignite that old interest; start checking your purses and pockets once more and who knows, you may one day find that elusive Kew or the King Charles Salmon—they’re out there somewhere, it’s time to start looking for them again.