European Economic Community 50p Coin 1973. Our first coin of interest is no longer in. The Kew Gardens 50p is one of the best-known rare coins around. With a sale of a Kew Gardens 50p for £91 on eBay in May (read here for why sales rather than listings are important), it’s no wonder collectors love this coin. Plus, because it was only produced in 2009, it’s possible that you have one in your wallet. Left: The 2011 Olympic Goalball 50p and, right, the Olympic Triathlon 50p are both rare In 2018, 1,400,000 copies of this Peter Rabbit 50p coin were minted in Britain.

While many versions of the 50p coin have been issued, few designs raise a smile like those released to commemorate the beloved children’s author Beatrix Potter.

Various characters have been honoured over the years, with some of the coins issued in smaller mintages, which makes them more valued by collectors.

The Royal Mint has revealed the rarest 50p coins in circulation ahead of the 50th anniversary of decimalisation, which included two of the Beatrix Potter designs.

Here are the coins to look out for in your own loose change, and how they compare to some of the rarest coins in circulation.

How rare are the Beatrix Potter 50p coins?

Two of the Beatrix Potter collection make the Royal Mint’s top 10 rankings – one adorned with the image of Peter Rabbit, the other with Flopsy Bunny.

Both were released into circulation in 2018, and have a mintage of 1,400,000, putting them in joint sixth position.

While there has only been one Flopsy Bunny 50p coin issued, the Peter Rabbit design is one of three, with the others – released in 2016 and 2017 – far more common.

There are other relatively rare Beatrix Potter coins, such as the 2018 Mrs Tittlemouse coin with a circulation of 1,700,000, and the Jemima Puddle Duck design from 2016 at 2,100,000.

Others with a comparatively low mintage include the 2018 Tailor of Gloucester (3,900,000), and the 2016 Squirrel Nutkin (5,000,000), while the most common design is the 2017 Benjamin Button coin, with 25,000,000 released into circulation.

The 2009 Kew Gardens 50p remains by far the rarest coin in circulation, with a mintage of just 210,000, while the most common, the 1997 Britannia 50p, has a circulation of 456,364,100 times. Here is the Royal Mint’s full top 10:

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

Are the Beatrix Potter 50p coins valuable?

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.

According to this, the most valuable of the Beatrix Potter coins is the Jemima Puddle-Duck design, which fetched an average of £12.00 over the nine most recent completed eBay sales up to mid-January.

Rare 50p Coins In Circulation

This is significantly behind the Kew Gardens 50p coin, which reportedly attracted an average price of £156.00.

There are are no shortage of sellers on eBay purporting to sell a range of rare 50p coins, which tend to offer the 2018 Peter Rabbit and Flopsy Bunny designs for between £9 and £15.

Rare 50p Coins Peter Rabbit

It should be pointed out, as Change Checker 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”.

Rare 50p Coins Benjamin Bunny

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

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.

Rare 50p Coins Ebay

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.