• Royal Mint 50p
• Royal Mint 50p

The Royal Mint has revealed the rarest 50p coins in circulation - with the top coin being worth £707. With the 50th anniversary of decimalisation - when the country switched to pounds and pence. Retrieved 28 December 2015. ^ Clayton, Tony. 'Decimal Coins of the UK – Bronze'. Retrieved 24 May 2006. ^ 'The 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Benjamin Britten 2013 UK 50p Coin'. Retrieved 21 May 2014. ^ a b c '1p Coin'. British Royal Mint. Archived from the original on 27 April 2006. Retrieved 23 May 2006.

The sought-after Kew Gardens 50p coin has been revealed as the rarest in circulation by the Royal Mint.

According to the top 10 rankings, released ahead of the 50th anniversary of decimilisation on 15 February, the coin is comfortably ahead of the competition.

The rest of the list is dominated by the Olympic-themed 50ps minted in 2011 to commemorate the London 2012 games, and the popular Beatrix Potter coins.

Why is the Kew Gardens 50p coin the rarest in circulation?

But while these all have a mintage above 1,000,000, only 210,000 Kew Gardens 50p coins were released into circulation.

For comparison, the most common coins in circulation have a mintage in the tens or even hundreds of millions – the 1997 Britannia 50p was minted 456,364,100 times.

The Kew Gardens coin was minted in 2009 to mark the 250th anniversary of the Royal Botanic Gardens, which were founded in 1759 by King George III’s mother Princess Augusta.

Its scarcity has made it treasured by collectors, the Royal Mint explains: “The sheer variety has sparked a collecting craze but of all the 50p coins, the Kew Gardens 50p is arguably the most sought-after.

“Nothing gets people excited quite like this original 2009 design. Just 210,000 were released into circulation and with almost all of them in private hands, the chances of coming across one in your change are slim.”

It adds: “Demand for the 50p denomination was not high at the time of release into circulation which explains the low mintage of this particular design.”

According to Matt Curtis, The Royal Mint’s Historics and Collector Services Expert: “As the mintage numbers were so low, many collectors removed the coins from circulation when found.”

A new version of the Kew Gardens 50p was issued in 2019, as part of a special British Culture Set marking 50 years of the 50p coin.

What are the rarest 50p coins in circulation?

Here are the rarest 50p designs in circulation, with their year and their total mintage, according to the Royal Mint:

1. 2009 Kew Gardens, 210,000

2. 2011 Olympic Wrestling, 1,129,500

=3. 2011 Olympic Football, 1,161,500

=3. 2011 Olympic Judo, 1,161,500

5. 2011 Olympic Triathlon, 1,163,500

=6. 2018 Peter Rabbit, 1,400,000

=6. 2018 Flopsy Bunny, 1,400,000

8. 2011 Olympic Tennis, 1,454,000

9. 2011 Olympic Goalball, 1,615,500

10. 2011 Olympic Shooting, 1,656,500

How much is the Kew Gardens 50p coin worth?

The rare coins website Change Checker has an eBay tracker, which details how some 50p coins can fetch significant sums in the secondary sale market.

This reports that the 2009 Kew Gardens coin sold for an average of £156 over the auction website’s nine most recent listings, according to the most recent update, a significantly higher sum than its rivals.

It should be pointed out, as the website states, the market in supposedly valuable coins “can be a bit of a minefield,” and it’s important to do your research before being taken in by viral stories of coins fetching huge sums.

Last year, for example, various reports claimed a Battle of Hastings 50p sold for £63,000 on eBay, supposedly because it was “very rare”.

This coin was launched in 2016 to commemorate the famous battle’s 950th anniversary, with as many as 6.7 million entering circulation.

Royal Mint 50p

Speaking to The Mirror, Alexandra Fiddons from Change Checker wasn’t able to explain exactly why the coin would sell for such a purportedly high fee, but said that sometimes “random coins” do reach surprising prices.

Royal Mint 50p

While some coins can fetch sums comfortably above their 50p value, often it is “error coins” – versions which found their way into circulation after being minted with mistakes – which are particularly valued by collectors.