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A few words on Trial Pieces resurfacing on the market Royal Mint 1st Time Auction




Royal Mint Trial Pieces Auction 26/09/2021 resurfacing in 2022



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The very 1st Royal Mint trial piece auction was held in Sep last year. Some pieces are resurfacing in March 2022. Many points you can use to argue trial pieces resurfaced, but this post only puts focus on how to understand trial pieces and trial pieces resurfaced.

Firstly, in 2016 or soon later, trial of the Pyx was first known publicly without any related-information. Actually, it is an annual programme held jointly between the Gold Smith company and the Royal Mint on the purpose of inspecting coins made previous year. Secondly, back to 2021, a trial piece auction was kicked off with many errors evolved, but getting improved bit by bit in its 2nd time sales. These two auction sales lead to A). coins/trial pieces are relatively used, B). a procedure of making a coin from start to finish demonstrated by the British Royal Mint. If you wanted to know more about die trial pieces from the Royal Mint, you can click on here.

So, we pick up a sample from the very 1st trial auction, lot 14. Lot 14 was a G10PD 5 oz Victoria Anniversary Gold Proof Coin. It has been slabbed by NGC PF70 UC (6318876-001). I am aware that the 3rd grading company is fully endorsed by the Royal Mint or other way round. You can check NGC marketing campaign for the 2nd time trial auction.

  • Lot 14 G10PD Victoria Anniversary 5 oz Gold Proof Coin

    • Credit: NGC online data

A PF70 UC grade!!! Really??? The designation UC it has no doubt about it, but a trial piece can score a 70 mark. Is it really true? From this point on, you can see how this UK market is doomed to fail sooner or later. First, a 70 mark is impossible in logic, because trial pieces are existed in advance for the Proclamation and pre-solve some technique issues during a mass production. According to the Royal Mint website above, a small batches of between 7 and 30 coins, typically 3 coins remained for each category after the process. Of course, the 3rd party graders are going to make a strong defence for the coin slabbed to its customer, a happy customer. Secondly, you are going to find some interesting points on your own if you have a very close look at lot 14 and the slabbed trial piece. Most importantly, lot 14 is absolute an investment coin that cannot sell in a quick way (i.e., flip). Plus, its related collection is not easy to form, like a collection with trial piece (1/1), a coin (1/500 for instance) and trial of the Pyx (1/9). Flipping a coin, in terms of a financial term, you are going to short selling your trial pieces. The lot-14 was at £14k mark (excl. BP) to buy originally and bid at £12K mark (excl. BP) to sell in a secondary market within a 6-month period. The trial piece’s value is devalued by this transaction and short-seller’s bet either internally or externally.

Based on results from the 2nd time auction, it looks good from the perspective of the seller, but still needs more to fill in and let buyer come in and know more about it. If the Royal Mint keep going to do auctions like the trial of the Pyx annually, it is really hard to gauge interests.

#The End

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A few words on the topic of currency coin and commemorative coin made by the Pobjoy Mint




A currency and commemorative coin made by the Pobjoy Mint



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The UK coin market is about to reshuffle its prosperity where it was again, considering a higher inflation of 5.5% at the moment and precious metals uptrend. The first time, it happened in 2016, where the first coloured 50p silver proof coin Blue Peter made by the Royal Mint, when the Pobjoy Mint was quarrelling the coinage contract with the Isle of Man government. At this point, the Royal Mint finally finds a way through their difficulty of gaining profits. The second time, it happens in 2022 during the Queen Platinum Jubilee year, evidence of the trial piece auctions held in 09/2021 and one more to come in 03/2022. This time, it gives the Royal Mint more confidence to play around the UK market, because of the monopoly situation domestic.

If we are going to talk about currency and commemorative coins, the best way is to comparing the coins made by the Pobjoy Mint and the Royal Mint. If you have to add the Tower Mint up, they are nothing. Some outsourcing mints are not worth a word. Do not take these words as an offence. At some point, the Pobjoy Mint is the underdog, in terms of ownership, the Royal Mint — the UK government owned mint, and the Pobjoy Mint — a family run private business.

A decimal system was established in 1971 to present where had many changes over the period, like redesign, resize and etc. The first cut-off time of a internal competition for the both mints are as follow:

*1972 to 1975, the Pobjoy Mint
The Pobjoy Mint master started to submit a workable proposal to the Isle of Man government, in order to gain a coinage contract. Finally, they did it and minted coins from 1975 onwards.

*2009, the Royal Mint
The Royal Mint was set up in a way of a private limited company in England from Project Alpha in 2009. It is very interesting to see this, the project was not existing too long, and then a government owned mint was open the door. However, the Royal Mint limited is just like a front-end company by providing services or/and goods, but they still have a back-end company, so-called Royal Mint Services Limited which provides goods or/and technique stuff. All available info you are able to search on Companies House website.

**2004, the Pobjoy Mint
A 50p coin of the T.T. Trophy was issued in 2004 alongside Miller’s Tower 50p coin on the island. This is a bit strange, if you look at 2007 ones of the T.T. Trophy 50p coin. They have a sample in 1994, very similar pattern, but it is no way to bring you towards sunshine if you add up the latter information. Here, it proves that the currency and commemorative coin has slip into a commercialisation period. Evidence 2003 Snowman 50p coin reducing mintage from 30k to 10k.

**2016, the Royal Mint
When the fight was still going on between the Pobjoy Mint and the IOM government, the Royal Mint issued their very first 50p silver colour-printed coin in 2016. It was a success. Plus, they have got a new CEO with a posh idea luxury gifting goods in place. Coin made in 2017 onwards like £2 20p (ex.2018) were NOT put into circulation. Here, it says that coins are goods purely and only made for profits.

Not too long after the celebration day of decimal day in 2019, you clearly see that this coin business has gone far far off-track in terms of a currency coin and a commemorative coin. The Royal Mint has made another story of 2019 Kew 50p coin which it has gone over the roof in price again. Yes, commemorative coins survived and currency coins dead. It echoes the Royal Mint long term strategy gifting, mintage and cashless.

To modern young collectors, modern coins wont hold your hobby too long, and the money you throw in it will shortly be a lot of scrap metals at the end. We have to ask ourselves hard, what is a coin? Once the cashless society is in place, where a coin stands?

#The End

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Royal Mint Die Trial Pieces Auction The First Time In Its History 26th September 2021




Royal Mint Trial Pieces Auction 26/09/2021


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I have been not here for a while since last post while we are coming out from the woods slowly and safely, hope all collectors are doing good and keeping well. Today, I am going to bring you a fascinating news with regard to die trial pieces, First Ever, from the Royal Mint during Collect Week 2021. In this post, you are going to see some insights of the die trial pieces auction and how important are die trial pieces in the coining process before and after.

Let we start it with some basic terms, this is a easy step to give us a starting point of knowing die trial pieces more. Here it is the official explanation published by the Royal Mint. Generally speaking, a die trial piece is a sample piece made before bulk production.

Trial pieces are not actually coins, because as follows:
>> have not gone through the processes of A). the trial of the Pyx (Latin pyxis, small box), and B). the ratification of the Royal Proclamation;
>> have new security features added A). microtext, and B). a latent image;
>> 3 pieces for each design denomination, one for the Royal Mint Museum, as always, one for the Royal Mint itself for a running standard, and the last one is down to collector’s hand.

— Gordon Summers, the Mint’s Chief Engraver

Trial pieces were auctioned via the Royal Mint website on 26th September 2021 by the way of Hybrid (a combination of timed manner and w/ an auctioneer). It is the very first time in its history either the way of selling or offering trial pieces for sale on its own. A list of 61 lots in total were up for sale and the offering range has covered two parts on the list in terms of metal purity, 0.916 and 0.999 gold coins w/ a few silver coins. The product variety in terms of theme design had most sought-after Kew Gardens 50p coin, the Sovereign series, Three Graces from the great engravers series, of course, a longer waiting one James Bond 007 (premiered on 28/09/2021 in London) and others.

Most trial pieces up for auction were (carefully?) picked up from the limited range of the trial of the Pyx sold, meaning a Britannia New Pence 50p gold proof coin in blister matches one of many trial pieces a Britannia New Pence 50p gold proof coin, but a Celebration of Sherlock HolmesTM 2019 UK 50p gold proof coin was not in 61-lot auction. At this point and stage, on the one hand, the Mint pried a bit room on a sturdy door from the perspective of the Mint market demand. Are they going to flood the market with more to come or just one-off time? It all comes down to collector’s pocket now. At the present moment, collectors are yet psychologically hooked up by the term of Royal Mint Trial. However our data suggests clearly that the Mint are carefully cultivating many royal followers. On the existing market, the most sought-after trial pieces are the 5 kilo and 2 kilo (see NGC 5880629-001 PF69UCA) Una and the Lion (both w/o security design) in terms of weight and innovation. On the other hand, it is hard to see the direction of this type of trial pieces “coin” going from the perspective of collectors. It is a pretty new concept, like they say, First Ever. It takes time and only time can tell worth it or not if a collector is after one.

On the auction day (i.e., a second past 1200pm to 90 mins later), 4 items were unsold of 61 lots (6.6% unsold) and the total price realised £389,800 (hammer price) in 90 mins, and VAT contribution was made up to almost £78,000 plus 4% extra on top of the hammer price. Next, we present auction highlights (all excl. BP):

**Lot 7 — G50P Kew Gardens 2019 sold at 26K (prebid at 24K);
**Lot 45 — G2oz 3 Graces 2020 sold at 17K (prebid at 15K), and
**Lot 52 — G10oz 3 Graces 2021 sold at 25K (no prebid).

The most interesting part during the auction was from Lot 1 to Lot 13, not only the first 5 lots contain errors but the bidding process was in a excessive and uncontrolled manner, plus another part from lot 28 to lot 39. This two parts consist of all legal tender coins. It is like they said in title after main title “Hybrid”. Invoices were sent out after 4 or 5 WORKING days due to some system failure issues.

Is it easy to find a piece in a secondary market? How often you can see one appearance? How much the last is sold? Many many question raised, but who can tell, only time tells you later.

#The End

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Royal Mint 50p coin Kew Gardens 2009 in NGC holder




Royal Mint 50p coin Kew Gardens 2009 in NGC holder




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How to store your coin collection? It is not easy to get around this topic. First, put all your coins into coin capsules, nice and neat, most importantly, a cost efficient way. However, if you are keen to give your coins extra value added on, a third grading company is the best choice in the first place. This will make a far away long debate, whether you need to do it or not, but it is your coin and your call if costs are not counted.

Today, we are going to illustrate a coin where is chosen from NGC database. Also this coin is a bit controversial. Let we have a look this coin first.

  • 2009 Kew Gardens 50p BUNC coin, NGC slabbed MS69 DPL

    • Credit: NGC database/online

One more, same kind but graded not as good as like the first one where you have seen above, as follows,

  • 2009 Kew Gardens 50p BUNC Coin, NGC slabbed MS66 DPL

    • Credit: NGC database/online

If you want to have a HD picture, no worries, just simply take id no. down on a piece of paper next to you and type them in NGC website. Bingo! Cost effect — upside.

The two coins shown are both graded as Mint State with Deep Prooflike (ie., strike type) by NGC. This is also the interesting point we are going to say here.

As of an announcement made in 2014 by the Royal Mint, only 210,000 Kew Gardens 50p coins were issued in circulation. All Kew Gardens 50p coin-related increased a lot in value and in any way like the two coins above. However, people understood the news a bit wrong. Because circulation Kew Gardens 50p coin and non-circulating Kew Gardens 50p coin are not a same thing in this case. It clearly shows the results from the grading company–DPL. Right now, it is really hard to obtain a MS60+ this kind coin if graded by NGC. All MS60+ w/ DPL come from decimal year mint set and/or PNC cover and/or single pack etc. Highly possibly, a MS60+ grade (ie., MS65 and above) could only come from a sealed bag of 20 coins where a few people collect sealed bag coins.

At this point, if you donot follow what are we talking about here. I am going to give your a different coin from the same grader in terms of MS60+.

Please have a look at the coin as follows:

  • 2009 Blue Peter 50p UNC coin, NGC slabbed MS68

    • Credit: NGC database/online

A Blue Peter 50p UNC coin, in any way, it is a very rare coin technically and holds a value very much high as time flies by. Only a few was issued for circulation, but in this case, for retail sales purpose ONLY. And this one is far better than 1992/93 EEC 50p coin in terms of mintage. Why the Royal Mint are not saying anything about Blue Peter 2009? The rest of story, you and me all know it. A Blue Peter 50p (2009) coin in folder was sold for £311 online platform based on data in Jan of 2021. A MS69 coin slabbed by NGC is nice and popular and hot, but hard to get a MS70 from NGC or another. A Blue Peter 50p UNC coin in original folder, cut or keep, this question comes back to you again — YOUR CALL! However, according to NGC database, a MS+PL coin is also graded within this kind. It can be understood that the Royal Mint striking quality is world-class even one strike. To sum up, NGC has results graded like MS+ & MS+PL among Blue Peter and MS+DPL among Kew Gardens on 50p coins in 2009. If you have a big sample size, say 10x Blue Peter or more, you could do it if costs are not counted, and Good Luck!

Disclaimer:
I dont own any coins illustrated here, and public information was used to create this post. And I donot get any advantage by publishing a slabbed coin by a third grading company.

#TheEnd

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A 50p Coin of The 50th Anniversary of Decimal Day (D-day) from Royal Mint in 2021




Royal Mint 50p of the 50th Anniversary of Decimal Day (D-day) in 2021



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On the day 15/02/2021, it will be 50 years by the existence of decimalisation in British coinage since 1971. Also, this day is so-called D-day (interesting, first thought it is D-day landing, but actually stands for decimal day). In the decimalisation system, on the basis of a decimal coin set of 6 coins (from 1/2p to 50p) was initially issued in 1971, and to date a 8-coin set from 1p to £2 is in use (excluding commemorative coins).

From the moment right now backwards to D-day, probably it has been a long story over 50 years, like a 50p coin with dual-date on rev. (1992/93), a 50p silver proof coin of the 25th anniversary of decimal day (D-day) in 1996, 50p coin resized from 30mm to 27.3mm in diameter and weight from 13g to 8g as well (1997), most popular a 50p Kew Gardens coin (2009, 210,000 coins in circulation), the composer’s name Benjamin Britten on rev. with Queen same time (2013) and extra.

Things, will be covered in this article, are like a 50p silver proof coin from the 25th Anniversary of D-day, a 50p BUNC coin from the 50th Anniversary of D-day. This article aims to give you a unique view on the development of decimalisation over time. However, it is hard to see really. One technique, micro inscription is used on £1 bi-12-sided coin on 28 of March, 2017 for the security purpose.

1996 50p silver proof coin. A Seated-Britannia 50p silver proof coin comes only from 1996 silver proof coin set. This set is a 7-coin silver set that commemorates the 25th Anniversary of decimalisation. All 7 coins are minted in sterling silver (0.9250) with denominations from 1p to £1 at cost of £95. According to its COA, 15,000 sets are permitted to sell. Smaller denominations like 1p 2p are first time to see in silver from the start of D-day to 1996. The 50p silver proof coin is the key bonus of the set. From the perspective of collectors, the 50p coin is the first 50p coin in silver to keep in your collection cabinet, and the first circulating 50p coin in silver as well. Furthermore, the silver coin set has greater intrinsic value undiscovered. Because it is the first British proof coin set in sterling silver since 1911 (note 1935 1937 issues only with 50% silver).

  • Seated-Britannia 50p silver proof coin for the 25th Anniversary of D-day in 1996

    • Credit: richukcoins®

2021 50p BUNC coin. It is very interesting to see on obv. two different portraits used on 50p coin namely 2nd and 5th and on rev. a nostalgic design. The two portraits used are only on base metal.

  • Nostalgic 50p BUNC coin for the 50th Anniversary of D-day in 2021

    • Credit: Royal Mint/Online

Top row from pictures shown above, a 50p BUNC coin with 2nd portrait is ONLY available from annual set containing 13-coin at cost of £55. It is the very smart marketing strategy on the 50th Anniversary of D-day. Bottom row shows a 50p BUNC coin with 5th portrait coming from individual pack at cost of £10. Also, this type of coin is available in silver and gold as well. Eventually, it will cost you in total of £65 (exl. delivery cost) for the two different portraits.

The 25h anniversary, the 50th anniversary, they represent special occasions in our daily life. To the Mint, it is good time to make great money, and to collectors, you have to buy them from the Mint, because you never know who is going to be next Kew and not available in our change. With the development of technology, more different techniques should be exercised on coins to represent our daily life and society situation, and more circulating commemorative coins should be released to the market.

It is a bit ironic that people donot like decimal coins 50 years ago. On the mark of 50 years today, people are keen to collect them. The decimal coins have not been changed much, but people changed a lot.

#The End

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1983 Royal Mint Decimal Coin Collection 2p Mule coin




1983 Royal Mint Decimal Coin Collection 2p Mule coin



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1 Brief Introduction
Before we kick off today’s topic, let us talk something first, a modern Mule coin.

1.1 What is a Mule coin?
Here it is a quote from Coinworld’s website, (or You can click here for more details.):

A mule coin is a coin struck with dies that were not intended to be paired.

“A numismatic mule is a fascinating creature, a hybrid of two designs never meant to appear together,” Coin World senior news editor William T. Gibbs wrote in 1992. “Some are accidental in nature, true errors that any collector would welcome in his or her collection. Other mules were deliberately produced, either accidentally, out of necessity to meet coinage demands, or from a desire to produce something special (even if fraudulent) for collectors.”

1.2 What is a modern Mule coin?
Having said a mule coin above, a modern mule coin is made in 1971 and onwards in British coinage in terms of modern. Therefore, it brings out our topic — a modern mule coin.

2 A Two New Pence Mule Coin in 1983
2.1 What is it?
A 2 (Two) New Pence Mule coin is an ordinary 2 pence (2p) coin with wording of “NEW” on reverse made in 1983. In essence, it is a 2p coin from our daily use. However, this kind of 2 new pence coin can not be found from our pocket. You only discover it from Year Mint Coin Collection Martini Set. The particular reason behind this kind of 2p Mule coin and further information, you can click on here in 2.2 below.

  • 1983 2p Mule coin in Martini Set

2.2 A real and official one in 1983
Loads loads of rare coins flood into the market, due to lack of proper knowledge and information. People can claim their own coin RARE in any way. Once a rare coin named, a price of the rare coin will soar.

The 2p mule coin official announcement please click here for more information.

Information of 2p Mule coin confirmed officially, and demands of the coin on the market existed, people just want to know how much it is worth and then cash in it? It is obvious a drawback of modern coins (i.e., quick money). However, people (i.e., investors) are destroying the turnover rate fundamentally.

3 Valuation on mule coins
A 2p mule coin, it is extremely hard to find on the market in terms of rarity. Also the mule coin is escaped under stricter inspections from a government-owned Mint, a rare event it is. At this point, you can see that a 2p Mule coin has a greater value if you have it in hands. Furthermore, the more people know and recognise, the higher price you are going to sell for. However, the mule coin slowly gets seen more commonly and loses its own value contained when the Mint downgrade their quality control process and get their hands on this commercial bug.

4 Mule coins since 1971 to 2020
Mule coins we walk through here are circulating type coins in terms of legal tender, and coins struck on wrong planchet not included.

→ 1983 2 new pence coin (correct version: 1983 2p)
We have talked this coin in detail above, please see above.

→ 1994 £2 Bank of England gold coin (correct version: with denomination Two Pounds)
A relevant event: trail coins were in production lines for the 1997 changeover event (i.e., 50p £2).

→ Undated 20p coin (correct version: 2008 20p)
A relevant event: from Tudor rose to shied on reverse

→ 2012 50p swimming coin Olympic Games (correct version: no lines over a swimmer face)
A relevant event: none, but commemorating the Olympic Games 2012 London.

→ 2015 50p Battle of Britain coin (correct version: with denomination 50 Pence)
A relevant event: Effigy of Q E II upgrade from 4th to 5th. The Mint said they intend to issue a special one. In the end of the day, you will see how a big lie it is!

5 Others: A new trend
Keep a 2p mule coin in its original pack, or leave the coin naked, or get the coin slabbed by a third grading company (i.e., NGC, PCGS). What are you going to do? It is very personal and subjective matter to say. It is too young modern coins in terms of time.

A 2p mule coin is worth more than its face value obviously. It is necessary to put it into a proper box, and easy to present people either physically or virtually. By considering these two points, put it in a box from a third grading company is the best way to store the coin, but costs and grades are key to think about before and after. Also, modern mule coins are too young to be slabbed. If you are going to establish your portfolio, it is the best to let your valuable mule coins slabbed.

#The End

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Royal Mint 50p BUNC UNC Coin the Single Market EEC 1992 1993




1992 1993 Royal Mint 50p BUNC UNC Coin the Single Market EEC


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Before we get into this topic, I would like to give you a short introduction on a 50p coin made in 1992/93. Two aspects it will be covered, a). history and b). 50p coin re-size in 1997, as follows:

a). The UK in 1973 joined European Economic Community (EEC) as members under the Treaty of Rome (1957-1992). In 1973, the Royal Mint had issued Hand-in-Hand (representing a circle) on 50p coins to commemorate this event. Th 1973 50p coin makes the very first commemorative 50p coin in the UK. Upon the Treaty of Maastricht (1992-2007) European Union (EU) was formed for establishing the Single Market, and the UK was the presidency of the council of ministers during 2nd half of 1992. Therefore, in 1992/93, the Royal Mint had issued 12 stars around a table to commemorate the Single Market in Europe with dual dated 50p coins. The 1992/93 coin is the first dual-dated 50p coin even the very first dual-dated decimal coin.

And,

b). In 1997, all UK 50p coins with 30.00mm in diameter and 13.00g in weight were resized to 27.30mm in diameter with a weight of 8.00g. Therefore, all large-sized 50p coins were legally out of circulation. (Note, the point b). mentioned here, it is the only reason to see Kew Gardens 50p coins from 2009 were a bubble created by hyper and the Mint itself. However, the EEC small-sized 50p coin reappeared to the market in 2009, due to the 40th anniversary of 50p decimalisation set.) Meanwhile, have you noted that why all happened in 2009, and it is true that things are that coincident?

The Single Market / EEC 50p coins were made in between 1992 and 1993 (i.e., dual-dated), and only had 109,000 mintage (by official number). If collectors want to find one on the market, it would be hard because of point b). said above. People argue that we have money and not THAT hard. Wrong, wrong, wrong, absolutely! Most the Single Market / EEC 50p coins come from decimal year set (i.e., BUNC). You would never know how many 1992 mint sets were made originally. All dual-dated 50p BUNC coins create more room on the demand of looking for a 1992/93 50p coin, and all BUNC coins are making troubles even a 3rd party grading company.

  • The Single Market/EEC dual-dated 50p UNC coin from 1992 FDC

    • EECEEC

    Credit: richukcoins®

In contrast to a dual-dated 50p BUNC coin from 1992,

  • The Single Market/EEC dual-dated 50p BUNC coin 1992 from decimal year set.

    • Credit: richukcoins®

The differences between the two coins shown above are as follows:
a). Edge. FDC’s edge looks more rougher than BUNC’s edge, and nicks noted on FDC’s edge. This is due to circulating coins that are only struck ONCE and any scratches and imperfections are NOT removed and remain part of the unique appearance of the coin;
b). Mirrored field. The mirrored field of BUNC coin has a smooth surface rather than FDC’s, meaning a commemorative BUNC coin is struck TWICE.
c). Most significantly, it is scratches on a UNC coin and legend on obverse is not lightly frosted. Based on this point, how could you expect a grade like MS 68/69 on a UNC coin.

At present, the way you find a circulating commemorative EEC 50p coin uncirculated is ONLY from First Day Cover (i.e., FDC) generally. Alternatively, it comes from a sealed bag of 20 coins if you are extremely lucky. If you send your EEC 50p coin(s) either BUNC or UNC to a 3rd grading party, you only have MS status back which is a shame. Because this does not represent a true value of a EEC 50p UNC coin.

After a look between UNC and BUNC, you will make your own decision on how much you are going to pay and which one you are going to pay for.

However, this type of BUNC has changed a lot in 2000 and onwards. The mirror field has been improved a lot, equivalent to a prooflike standard. The portrait on the obverse contains a lot of details.

  1. Seated Britannia 50p PL coin (2000)

    2. Credit: richukcoins®

  2. Library 50p PL coin (2000)

    3. Credit: richukcoins®

It concludes that the Royal mint 50p coin sold in annual set is with a Prooflike (PL) finish standard after 2000. Most importantly, a BUNC coin and a UNC coin are totally different numismatic product.

#The End

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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.

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Britain 2020 Brexit 50p Coin from the Royal Mint



31 January 2020, Brexit 50p Coin



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From a road map of EU,
a article written by the BBC is the best place to know and discovery, please have a read link, a road map of the Brexit by BBC.

From coin side,

  1. 1973, UK 50p coin the EEC (hand in hand)

    2. 1973 EEC1973 EEC

  2. 1992, UK 50p coin the Single market

    3. 1992/93 the Single Market1992/93 the Single Market

  3. 1998, UK 50p coin the 25th Anniversary of the EEC

    4. 1998 EEC1998 EEC

  4. 2020, UK 50p coin the Brexit

    5. B01B02

    B03B04

    As you have seen above, it is very simple and basic package sold by the Royal Mint at £10 each plus delivery fee. It is hard to see what is WORTH of £10 really? Yes, one thing you have to admit that if you have not done anything on the day (31/01/2020), it would not be a record in our modern history. From this point, you contribute your £10 into the history. In terms of coin quality, it is still a prooflike finish standard. One more thing, from the road map of coins since 1973 to 2020, is that all story about the relationship between EU and the UK are all in place and all recorded on British modern coinage. Farewell the European Union, and Good luck to the UK.

    • 2020, UK 50p silver proof coin the Brexit

      • Note: a commemorative coin, supporting from a). a 47,000 issue limit = 47 years’ relationship with the European Union; & b). struck in precious metal like silver and gold. A label on outer packaging makes me thinking about “why” the payments were made on 31/01/2020, and then cancelled by the Royal Mint. Here you go. All coins scheduled on sale were the day, 31/01/2020, this doesnot necessarily mean that the manufacture was able to delivery goods on the day. I know the Royal Mint is endorsed by their brand & 1000 years history, and the Treasury (ie., a Treasury-owned company). But if, the Royal Mint were collapsed in a second (like Lehman Brothers in 2008), another Ponzi Scheme was on. However, who really cares?

    • 2020, UK 50p coin 2-coin the Brexit

      • B05B06

      Note: a combined pack of a 1973 coin and a 2020 coin, it covers 47 years that the relationship lasts between EU and the UK, and a limit of mintage is set up at 5,000 coins, much better than silver coin of this kind.

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The Snowman 2018 and 2019 by the Royal Mint




The Snowman(tm) 2018 and 2019 by the Royal Mint





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Since 2016, the Royal Mint finally decided to mint cartoonish coins and made the blue Peter 50p coin prolong famous in the numismatic world. Two years later, the Mint slowly moved into the Xmas market by issuing the Snowman(tm) 50p coin. Right now, it has been 2 coins on the market. Note, the very first Royal Mint Christmas or Christmas-related theme was released in 2016 £20 silver bullion coin, and then 2017 and 2018 £5 coins.

What are we talking here today, it is Christmas-related theme, the Snowman(tm) 50p coin. This theme starts in 2018 onwards. Metal it will be in silver.

The year 2018,

  • The Snowman(tm) 2018, 50p silver proof coin

  • The Snowman(tm) 2018, 50p silver proof coin–a close look

it was glad to see the Snowman(tm) again, especially issued by the Royal Mint. However, the very 1st Snowman was released in 2003, the Snowman & James, by the British Pobjoy Mint on behalf of the government of Isle of Man. It has been a while, 15 years!

Two things we cover here mainly, one is the outer packaging and another is coin itself. Firstly, outer packaging itself is designed for the purpose of gifting to people who search for a gift during the period of Christmas, because it is once a year. In general, it was produced by the way of simplifying the concept of snowball glass. Selling at £60 per unit is not bad for a good choice. However, moving down to coin itself, it is hard to say good or bad. By looking at the reverse side of the coin, colour-printed picture-formatted, very very simple and cant even say we live in 2018. It is even no any illustration word or heading on the reverse. If you hold coin itself, you only see flying the Snowman(tm) and Billy. This theme of the Snowman(tm) and Billy 2018 is also able to be seen from Isle of Man 2014 1 crown coin. In terms of coin grade, the Royal Mint quality guaranteed proof standard finish is highly visible.

The year 2019,

  • The Snowman(tm) 2019, 50p silver proof coin

  • The Snowman(tm) 2019, 50p silver proof coin–a close look

the outer packaging was better than 2018 and making better feeling about the Christmas festival days, but, you had to pay for £65 per unit. Coin itself this year was worse than last year. Because there was no any good and surprise innovation on. Just simply let flying the Snowman(tm) transform into a standing feature on the ground. At this stage, something is popping out from my head, yes, the 2016 Beatrix Potter series, later soon, this series become a milk-cow production line.

Finally, let we summarise mintage figures of the Snowman(tm) 50p coin 2018 and 2019 in Table A.

Table A: the Snowman(tm) 50p coin 2018 and 2019.
Year Mintage (base metal) Mintage (silver) Mintage (gold) Theme
2018 unlimited 15,000 400 the Snowman(tm), Flying the Snowman & Billy
2019 unlimited 25,000 600 the Snowman(tm), a Standing feature

The year 2019, it is coming to an end and a new year is waiting for us ahead, I wish all collectors and people who are reading it a Merry Christmas and a Happy New! Enjoying the great time with your family. Thank you for your support. A new Year, a new start.

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Great Britain 50 Years of The 50p Coin 2019





50 Years of the 50p Coin, Great Britain decimal 50p coin from 1969 to 2019




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It is a part that shows key designs in year order during the period of 50 years, in terms of reverse design only. It may come across portrait changes during illustration.

50 Years of the 50p coin (from 1969 to 2019)

  • 50p coin: Britannia 1969 (left) vs. Britannia 2019 (right) (winner in design)

    • Royal coat of arms 2013 (runner-up in design, both by Christopher Ironside)

  • 50p coin, Britannia 2019 w/o privy (left) vs. 2019 w/ 2-privy

    • Generally speaking, product quality, in terms of coin grade, is improving from very basic to (deep) prooflike over years. Nothing is worth mentioning here really. If you have a close look at the 2019 50p coin w/o and w/ privy, there is one thing you have to address, coin w/ privy grade much better than coin w/o privy. The 2019 50p coin w/o privy was taken at the Royal Mint Experience, strike your own (syo), and originally only the place where you were able to purchase. However, the Royal Mint changed rules after the big sales of 50 years of the 50p coin proof standard and silver proof standard sets. It makes the 2019 50p syo coin a bit controversial.

Within 50 Years: “New” omitted (in 1982)

  • 50p coin 1982 (left) vs. 1969 (right)

    • No longer “New” onwards.

Within 50 Years: 2nd Portrait to 3rd Portrait (in 1985)

  • 2nd portrait [1969, 1984] vs. 3rd portrait [1985, 1997]

Within. 50 Years: GB 1st 50p circulating silver proof coin (in 1996)

  • 50p Silver proof coin seated Britannia in 1996

    • Provenance: the 25th Anniversary of decimalisation in 1996, UK vs. IOM

      • The 25th anniversary of decimalisation silver proof coin sets, both UK and IOM, were only sold to collector in silver proof finish. Note the significant difference between the UK and IOM silver proof sets above is that UK decimal silver proof and proof and BU sets were already in place in 1996. The above UK silver proof set was sold only for the purpose of celebrating the 25th anniversary of decimalisation. Also, the two 50p silver coins here were then circulating coin (i.e., a coin in daily use). In terms of integration, the IOM silver proof set had 9-coin in a set from face value of £5 down to 1p, however, the UK silver set only 7 coins were presented. With regard to popularity, the IOM 1996 silver proof set is great in demand. According to its coa, 1996 IOM silver sets were produced with a limit of 1996 sets in 1996. At this point, it is clear to say that UK numismatic products are unpopular before 2009 and most high value denominations like £1 £2 and £5 are used.

    This 1996 Seated Britannia 50p silver proof coin with a limit of 15,000 coins is recognised by a few collectors in terms of coin valuation in British modern coins. The 50p silver proof coin is a real collector item, but people who collect modern coins are keen to commercial numismatic item for instance 2016 blue peter 50p silver coin. If you look at the 50p silver coin itself, it is simple and limited at 15000 coins.

Within 50 Years: A changeover from 30.00mm to 27.30mm in size (in 1997)

  • 50p coin: 1997 large (left) vs. 1997 small (right)

    • The existence of a choice between 7-sided 50p and circular 50p (in 1994)

Within 50 Years: Seated Britannia went down instead by Shield (in 2008)

  • 50p coin 2008 Seated Britannia (left) vs. 2008 Shield (right) & 4th portrait [1998, 2015]

    • Importantly, all 50p coins made in 2000 onwards are at least a prooflike standard finish. This is a very significant improvement made from the Royal Mint. Seated Britannia closed her curtain on UK circulating 50p coin after 2008.

Within 50 Years: Commemorative 50p coins
During the period of 50 years, a very 1st commemorative 50p coin struck at the Royal Mint and at the Pobjoy Mint respectively, from the perspective of minter and understanding numismatic products. UK, it was 1973, which UK first joined the European Economic Community. Isle of Man, it was 1978, which was the 25th Anniversary of Coronation of the Queen E II. Two “special” 50p coins are shown at Point A and B below in depth. Point A and B are two points to support Commemorative 50p coin 1973 UK vs. IOM.

  • Commemorative 50p coin 1973 UK EEC PF vs. 1978 IOM PF

    • It is a very interesting comparison between the two coins. Firstly, it is coin grade. 1973 EEC 50p proof coin was made with a prooflike standard finish. However, 1978 IOM Viking boat 50p proof coin was a real proof coin. At early stage of decimalisation, coins made from the Pobjoy mint were properly minted and the Royal mint were heading to political gift. Secondly, it has no competition internal and external in this market in terms of minters. Last not least, the Royal mint didnot fancy developing any 50p coin at the beginning of decimalisation, but the Pobjoy mint had different view on 50p coin.

Point A. Within the period of 50p years, contemporary GB history also created on 50p coins in 1973 and 1992/93.

  • 50p coin 1973 (left) (UNC) vs. 1992/93 (right) (BUNC)

    • BUNC grade coin, only from year mint set.

    • 50p coin 1973 (left) vs. 1992/93 (right) (circulating type)

    As shown above, a BU 50p coin and a circulating type 50p coin in 1992/93 are very different in terms of coin grade. And only the circulating type was limited at 109,000 coins. This coin was seized for circulating after 1997, but it was part of decimalisation improvement. A very interesting question arises in my mind, what if the London Bridge goes down, whether is or not solid point to say that 2009 Kew Gardens 50p coin is no longer a rare circulating 50p coin? What will the entire numismatic world react on this news and changes? The system of decimal coinage will not be changed and opted out over the course of time, however, people will, its mother nature. Do people care what do they collect in value?

Point B. A 1979 Isle of Man 50p base proof coin. This is a very special coin in the range of UK 50p coins. In terms of finish, it is finalised with a proof finish, earlier than Royal Mint 1st 50p base proof coin in 1982.

  • 50p 1978 Proof coin

    • 50p 1978 coin (circulating coin)

50 years of the 50p coin first release (early 2019)
50 years of the 50p coin second release (mid 2019)
50 years of the 50p coin third release, possible…?

If you are keen to GB 50p coins, please go back and see 40 years of the 50p coin in 2009. But, there is nothing new and creative. It is more like a revision of 2009 job lot.

#The End

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