Tag: #UK

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2009 UK 50p Coin Blue Peter and 2018 Royal Mint Experience Newton Strike Your Own 50p coin




UK Royal Mint 50p coin in circulation the rarest ones


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Two 50p coins we are going to cover here, are a 2009 50p Blue Peter coin and a 2018 50p Newton coin. We set up our benchmark by using the 2009 50p Kew Gardens coin in order to see what is the rare coin within a 50p coin group from 1971 to present. For presenting a best picture of the rarest UK 50p coin in circulation, we must firstly define two base lines of term of rarity: a). mintage and b). statue of a coin: in current circulation where the coin is not out of date in decimalisation system. Therefore, we can talk more on a same topic.

Scenario I and II are used to illustrate the two base lines the above mentioned, and each scenario case followed by a supportive table.

Scenario I: Counting mintage only!
A mintage figure is important. A coin is naturally connected with its mintage. Coins are minted in place for daily use by a Mint. It is really hard to say how many coins a Mint needs to get prepared in advance, because demand is really hard to predict, due to many factors involved and cashless is getting more clear in our daily life in post-pandemic period.

In this part, we are going to list the rarest 50p coin in terms of official mintage as below:

Table A: UK the rarest 50p coin by mintage from 1971 to present
Name Year Mintage Note
the Single Market EEC 1992/93 109,000 30.00mm & 16.00g, UNC
Kew Gardens 2009 210,000 27.30mm & 8.00g, UNC
Blue Peter 2009 19,751 no official figure, UNC in blister
Isaac Newton 2018 20,826 Royal Mint Experience BUNC in folder
Source: created by richukcoins® on 13/08/2020.

Table A in Scenario I shows the rarest 50p since 1971 explicitly. However, there is one condition, solid condition, that cannot be removed easily — “…, currently in circulating 50p coin [from the Royal Mint announcement]”. Also, this point will be broken down into a). a circulating 50p coin and b). a circulating commemorative 50p coin. Therefore, Scenario II is derived from here.

Scenario II: Considering mintage upon the statue of a coin.
In terms of the statue of a coin, it could be circulating or non-circulating. This is the way the Royal Mint used to trigger consumers psychologically.

Table B: UK the rarest 50p coin by hype from 1997 to present
Name Year Mintage Note
Kew Gardens 2009 210,000 27.30mm & 8.00g; circulating coin
Blue Peter 2009 19,751 no official figure, in folder; circulating coin
Isaac Newton 2018 20,826 Royal Mint Experience folder; non-circulating coin
Source: created by richukcoins® on 13/08/2020.

Table A & B are the two very interesting tables. This is because Table A is reflecting a full picture of UK 50p coin over time, and Table B however just shows partially. If there is a conflict between the logic created by time naturally and the logic man-made, which one you would follow? If the man-made logic works in any scenarios, it means everything is under control by people who set up the man-made logic, indicating MOTIVATION. At the moment, people or collectors are spending over £400 on a Kew in folder. What about a Blue Peter coin??? and a EEC coin??? This is really a good question to be asked ourself. We all are driven by the Royal Mint marketing strategy.

Let we have a look what do they look like in terms of Blue Peter and Newton SYO (2018).

  • 2009* UK 50p UNC Coin Blue Peter

    • [For comparison] 2011* UK 50p BUNC Coin High Jump

    Credit richukcoins®

    *Note: UNC and BUNC are totally different two grades in terms of a finish standard.

  • 2018 Royal Mint Experience Newton 50p coin Strike Your Own (SYO)

    • Credit richukcoins®

Please, donot get confused with 2017 Newton 50p coin. The reason you are going to see a 2018 Newton 50p coin is because the Mint have to use/create a thing (/or things) to marketing the Royal Mint Experience where they spent a lot time to build. Furthermore, 50p coin was becoming a hot potato between 2016 and 2017 in the UK. Therefore, that is the reason of the birth of 2018 Newton 50p coin. Yes, donot forget that 2018 Newton 50p coin is a coin that you strike it on your own (ie., Strike Your Own = SYO) at the Royal Mint Experience. This makes 2009 50p Blue Peter coin and 2018 50p Newton SYO coin a little bit different in nature.

2009 50p Blue Peter coin and 2018 50p Newton SYO coin are both rare in terms of mintage and qualified by the term of currently circulating. So, collectors, are you going to pay price over the roof on a 2009 50p Kew Gardens coin? Answers are already in you mind after this read. Mission still carries on. However, we will not know which one will be the next rarest 50p coin. Life expects many uncertainty, keep positive.

#The End

© richukcoins®


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Colour-printed Fifty Pence Coin: IOM The Snowman and Billy (2014) vs. UK Peter Rabbit (2016)




UK Colour-printed 50p coins in silver and in base metal




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First of all, it is background of two Fifty pence coins we will talk about one of the Snowman series and Peter Rabbit. The Snowman and Billy was produced by the Pobjoy Mint in 2014, and Peter Rabbit was produced by the Royal Mint in 2016. It is very very interesting to talk about this topic. Because there is NO a 2015 IOM Xmas 50p existed. This is the gap the PM left it open to the RM. Moreover, it is 13(=2016-2003) years ago, the PM implied colour-printed technique on 50p coins, but the RM took the colour-printed path on 50p coins only in 2016. Note the RM first implication of colour-printed version was noted on £2 coins in silver, precisely silver piedfort, in 2002. We will compare Fifty pence coins in silver first and then in base metal next. In terms of UK, it refers to the producers whom are based in the United Kingdom.

First round, it is about time. The Snowman first appearance, the Snowman and James, was on IOM Xmas 50p coins in 2003 to celebrate the Snowman animation alive for 25 years since 1978. Peter Rabbit first appearance was in 1993 on Gibraltar Crown coins to celebrate the 100 years of Peter Rabbit. Interestingly, either Gibraltar coins or Gibraltar Crown coins all are produced by the PM at the time. Then Peter Rabbit was introduced to collectors on 50p coins in 2016 in order for celebrating the 150 anniversary of Beatrix Potter under the subject of “the Tale of Peter Rabbit” derived from Beatrix Potter’s 23 little tales. Right now, a bit confusion gets my attention, which is between 1893(=1993-100) and 1866(=2016-150). From the numbers 1893 and 1866, you can clearly see how the Mints’ thoughts for avoiding overlapped things, and how to get into this market firmly by any chance. The 2014 Snowman is sort of the 2nd one in the Xmas series and the 2016 Peter Rabbit is sort of the first one in series.

  • 2014 The Snowman and Billy 50p coin in silver, struck at the Pobjoy Mint.

  • 2016 The Peter Rabbit 50p coin in silver, struck at the Royal Mint.

But this round, we look at the two coins from package outside. The Snowman one reminds me PM made certs for this kind just like infinite back to square 1. The Peter Rabbit one looks like a gift. The RM have changed their concept in this industry towards to a luxury gifting industry since 2008 probably.

  • Outside package for the two coins.

Coin Specification
The Snowman 2014 Peter Rabbit 2016
Basic data: 50p in denomination & 8.00g in weight & 27.30mm in diameter
Alloy: Sterling Silver (.9250, PM) Alloy: Sterling Silver (.9250, RM)
Quality: Proof (by the PM) Quality: Proof (by the RM)
Mintage: limited @ 5,000 Mintage: Limited @ 15,000
Note: Copper-Nickel plain & colour-printed Note: Copper-Nickel plain
None Initials for the reverse and obverse designers

One more round, we look further at ones in base metal. This is a key part to see how the two mints compete in this market. The PM know very clearly what target customs are, so they issue limited colour-printed version along with plain ones. However, the RM only focus on precious metals and only do colour-printed version in silver. A interesting finding is the issue limit of 7,500. The Beatrix Potter 50p plain coins are limited @ 7,500 and the rest of colour-printed version is limited @ 15,000 in 2016 and but the 2017 ones is lift to 30,000 coins. 7500 x 20 = 7500, 7500 x 22-1, 30000 = 7500 x 23-1 (7500 x 2n-1, n=1,2,3,…; 7500 = 150 x 50). The Falkland Islands Penguin 50p ones is limited at @ 7,500 in base metal only. The two echoes each other but in different metals in 2017.

  • The Snowman and Billy 2014 50p coin from carded version, limited @ 30K for this kind.

  • The Snowman and Billy 2014 50p colour-printed, including issue limit above.

  • Peter Rabbit 2016 50p coin from carded version, limited @ 9.6M for this kind.

From pictures shown above, the Snowman is minted with a prooflike (PL) finish, but the Peter Rabbit is only an Brilliant Uncirculated (BU) finish.

Business is Business, you have to work harder to get your shares in this red blood market. The “alternations or arguments” in 2015 created a big gap for a strong rival competitor to get in this market. Once you get into the gap, it is your success. But you can not forget one thing the two mints know each other well. In other words, inside information somehow appears. I still remember how hard did I get one Peter Rabbit in Feb 2016. My order was placed in afternoon when I started to login my account on the royal mint website in the morning. I could not stop refreshing my website like a robot. This simply reminds me how did I play video games. The RM somehow need update their bandwidth at peak time. Are collectors going to wait all 23 tales? If this is a Yes, probably the RM will handle the opportunity to others.

Last round, it is an extra part to show the Peter Rabbit Crown coins issued on behalf of the government of Gibraltar in 1993.

  • 100 Years of Peter Rabbit Crown Coins issued for Gibraltar.

#The End

© richukcoins®