The rarest 50p coins in circulation revealed by Royal Mint that could be worth more than £400

22 October 2019, 10:15 | Updated: 22 October 2019, 10:19

The rarest 50ps in circulation have been revealed
The rarest 50ps in circulation have been revealed. Picture: Getty Images
Naomi Bartram

By Naomi Bartram

The Royal Mint has revealed the ten rarest 50p coins in circulation to mark half a century since it was introduced.

Get ready to frantically check your piggy bank, because the rarest 50p coins have been revealed - and some are worth over £500.

In honour of the 50th anniversary of the coin earlier this week, The Royal Mint celebrated by sharing a list of the most valuable editions of the collectable.

And if you’re sitting on the 2009 Kew Gardens design, you’re in luck as this remains the nation's rarest coin.

Kew Garden's coin
Kew Garden's coin. Picture: Royal Mint

The pretty image has the Gardens' famous pagoda on one side and there were just 210,000 created.

It’s so sought-after that a particularly good condition coin recently sold for £400 at auction.

When it comes to the second rarest special edition, there are currently 1,129,500 of the 2011 Olympic wrestling design in circulation.

Read More: Rare Peter Rabbit 50p coin sells for a whopping £621 on eBay - do you have one?

Another sporting coin, the third rarest 50p is the 2011 Olympic football design, of which 1,161,500 were created.

There were 29 different designs released to celebrate the 2012 Olympic Games overall - most of them sell for around £7 online, while the rarest can go for about £40.

A coin from the Beatrix Potter collection also made the list, with the 2018 edition featuring the characters Peter Rabbit and Flopsy Bunny having a mintage of 1.4 million.

Read More: Five Disney 50p coins featuring Cinderella and Snow White have been released

The Royal Mint's director of currency, Andrew Mills, said: "The official 2018 mintage figures provide a guide to the volume and variety of coins in 50p circulation today.

"Coin collecting remains as popular as ever in the UK, and October marks 50 years of the iconic 50p, widely considered to be the most collectable coin."

Peter Rabbit coin
Peter Rabbit coin. Picture: Royal Mint

Rarest 50p designs

• 2009 Kew Gardens: 210,000 


• 2011 Olympic wrestling: 1,129,500 


• 2011 Olympic football: 1,161,500 


• 2011 Olympic judo: 1,161,500 


• 2011 Olympic triathlon: 1,163,500 


• 2018 Peter Rabbit: 1,400,000 


• 2018 Flopsy Bunny: 1,400,000 


• 2011 Olympic tennis: 1,454,000 


• 2011 Olympic goalball: 1,615,500 


• 2011 Olympic shooting: 1,656,500


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