Will the Battle of Hastings 50p be the rarest coin of 2016?

It has been revealed that five million 50p coins that commemorate the 950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings in 1066 have been struck for circulation.

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The coin features the image of King Harold with an arrow through his eye, taken from the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts the Norman Invasion of Britain where he was defeated by William the Conqueror.

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The Battle of Hastings coin could be the fifth rarest 50p in circulation! *Excluding the 2011 Olympic 50p Series

At just 5 million, this would make the Battle of Hastings 50p the fifth rarest 50p coin currently in circulation. Considering that the mintages of 50p’s usually overly exceed 7 million, it’s possible that the Battle of Hastings fifty pence will be the rarest coin of 2016.

Confirmation of the 2016 mintage figures wont be released by The Royal Mint until next year but as you can see from the graph above the Battle of Hastings 50p will take fifth place – in between the 2008 Britannia 50p and the 1998 NHS 50p. As long as no more coins are struck for circulation.

But as there have been seven different 50p designs in 2016 I think it is safe to assume that no more of these will be struck.

Remember, when it comes to collecting, there is one fact which is always inevitable – the rarest coins are always in highest demand.

So keep your eyes peeled, these coins will be released into circulation very soon!

25 Comments

  1. Christopher stott on December 10, 2016 at 12:51 am

    I’ve got five got them in trinity leeds



  2. tango doll on December 9, 2016 at 11:11 pm

    I was lucky to find some shiny Battle of Hastings 50p coins in Kent today.



  3. Joe hinchliffe on December 3, 2016 at 10:15 pm

    Ile be keeping hold of my battle of Hastings coin is there a value on the coin yet or is it sticking to ten pounds



  4. mike rolan on November 22, 2016 at 12:35 pm

    I have £5 note with AA24 is it worth anything



  5. Adrian on November 21, 2016 at 3:48 pm

    Actually there are 8 different 50p designs for 2016! The usual dent shield, the 5x Beatrix Potters, the Team GB one and this Battle Of Hastings one. Only seen Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddleduck and Team GB in circulation so far.



    • Yasmin Britton on November 25, 2016 at 8:54 am

      Hi Adrian, you’re right but we were referring to the seven commemorative designs rather than the definitive designs. Apologies for the confusion. Thanks, Yasmin



    • Steve on December 10, 2016 at 12:48 pm

      Just got a bag of 50p from local post office 19 x battle of hasting and 1x mrs tiggy winkle !!



  6. David on November 20, 2016 at 9:57 am

    But what about the Beartrix Potter. I have only found two Peter Rabbit and just found a puddle duck in Leicester! No others yet!



    • Yasmin Britton on November 25, 2016 at 8:52 am

      Hi David, so far only three of the coins have been released into circulation – Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddle-Duck and Mrs Tiggy-Winkle are all in circulation! We’ll update everyone as soon as we have information on the other. Thanks, Yasmin



      • Sue on November 25, 2016 at 4:03 pm

        I recently got two Mrs tiggywinkles in my change but unfortunately I’ve not seen a puddleduck



  7. John Mason on November 19, 2016 at 12:35 pm

    Which Battle of Britain 50p the
    J C or R D S one the rarest



    • Yasmin Britton on November 25, 2016 at 8:50 am

      Hi John, the circulation version of the Battle of Britain 50p (with Jody Clark portrait) has a mintage figure of 5,900,000. As of yet the mintage figure for the Battle of Britain 50p (with Ian Rank-Broadley portrait) is yet to be released. Unfortunately we are waiting for the Royal Mint to update their figures as currently they only have figures of coins up to 2013. However, it’s more than likely that the Brilliant Uncirculated Battle of Britain 50p (With IRB portrait) has as lower mintage figure. Hope this makes sense. Thanks, Yasmin.



  8. Peter illingworth on November 19, 2016 at 8:36 am

    I would love one of these for me kids collection as he dose not have one Peter illingworth 2 upper house cottage Bradford bd13-1sp



  9. Lucy on November 18, 2016 at 7:05 pm

    I have this 50p, uncirculated xx



    • Yasmin Britton on November 25, 2016 at 8:44 am

      Hi Lucy, it’s likely that the uncirculated version will be even rarer! Hope you like the coin 🙂



    • Rita frost on December 17, 2016 at 9:57 pm

      How do you know if they are uncirculated I have 20 of the 1066 coins



      • Yasmin Britton on December 19, 2016 at 11:20 am

        Hi Rita, uncirculated coins are the ones that you have to buy – it’s unlikely that you would find brilliant uncirculated coins in your change. Hope his helps. Thanks, Yasmin



  10. Andy on November 18, 2016 at 6:21 pm

    5 million is not rare, thi is a nonesense headline.



  11. Joe Carr on November 18, 2016 at 6:18 pm

    What About The 2009 Blue Peter Olympic 50p Coin. Why Is That Not On The List



    • Yasmin Britton on November 25, 2016 at 8:43 am

      Hi Joe, you are right that it is one of the rarest coins, but the Blue Peter Athletics 50p was only issued in presentation packs. Although there were only 100,000 of these coins (without the 2011 date) they were never released into circulation and on Change Checker we only really mention the coins that you can find in your change. Hope this makes sense. Thanks, Yasmin



  12. Terry McElligott on November 18, 2016 at 4:10 pm

    What makes the coins rare is that they are taken out of circulation by the bag load then sold for vast amounts on Ebay. The real collectors don’t really get a look-in. It would be best if these notifications as above were not made.



  13. Adrian on November 18, 2016 at 3:37 pm

    I’d be interested to know how many of each of the 5 Beatrix Potter 50ps have been minted! So far I’ve found 4 Peter Rabbits and 1 Jemima Puddleducks but nothing else…



    • Yasmin Britton on November 25, 2016 at 8:37 am

      Hi Adrian, unfortunately we don’t have any information on the mintage figures of the Beatrix Potter coins. As soon as we have access to them we will update all our graphs and let everyone know. Hope this helps. Thanks, Yasmin



  14. tobyone on November 18, 2016 at 3:17 pm

    At last I have managed to get Mrs Tiggywinkle and Jermima puddle-duck 50p coins in the last two weeks. I have also managed to pass some spare ones to other local collectors (face value only) Only two more to get. A big thank-you to a local Post Office for keeping them for me, we are expecting Squirrel Nutkin to be out next week.



    • Yasmin Britton on November 25, 2016 at 8:38 am

      That’s great news! The other two 50p’s in the Beatrix Potter series are yet to be released but as soon as they are, we’ll let everyone know 🙂