The 50p issued to celebrate 50 years since Decimal Day – JUST released!

On February 15th 1971, the UK’s currency went decimal and this enormous change to UK coinage called for one of the biggest publicity campaigns our nation had ever seen!

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of ‘Decimal Day’, as it was known, The Royal Mint has JUST released a brand new 50p.

This brand new 50p, designed by Dominique Evans, features overlapping pre-decimal coins in an ode to Decimal Day, with the date ‘1971’ at the centre of the design.

Secure the 2021 Decimal Day 50p for your collection for JUST £4.50 (+p&p) by clicking here >

Over the years, the 50p has become the most-collected and best-loved decimal coin in the UK and given the significance of this anniversary, demand for this new coin is expected to be high.

You can secure your 2021 Decimal Day 50p for your collection for JUST £4.50 (+p&p) by clicking here >>

We’ve seen some amazing coins issued since Decimalisation. In this blog, we take a closer look at some of Change Checker’s favourites.

2019 50th Anniversary of the 50p Coin

2019 marked a milestone moment for coin collectors as the world’s first seven-sided coin celebrated its 50th anniversary. To celebrate the anniversary, The Royal Mint issued this 50p.

2019 50th Anniversary of the 50p Anniversary Coin

This coin was designed by The Royal Mint design team and is said to ‘pay tribute to the science that gave us the world’s first seven-sided coin’.

Featuring Christopher Ironside’s iconic Britannia on the reverse, inscribed with ‘NEW PENCE’ just as the original 1969 coin was, this unique 50p has not one, but two special features:

  1. An exclusive never-before-seen mint mark; the Spirograph type design has been drawn from an extension of lines forming the 50p shape
  2. minting first; on the outer rim of the reverse design, the letters A-G appear on each point and are joined by crossing lines.

You can secure this 50p for your collection, whilst stocks last, for JUST £4.50 (+p&p) here >>

The first-ever £2 coin!

In 1986, a brand new UK denomination was introduced in the form of a £2 coin.

1986 Commonwealth Games £2

Prior to the introduction of the bi-metallic £2 coins in 1998, single-coloured, nickel-brass £2 coins were issued, purely to mark special occasions. Between 1986 and 1996, there were seven different designs of the single-coloured £2 coins.

The 1986 Commonwealth Games £2 coin changed the face of UK commemorative coins, being the first of its denomination to be struck and the first British coin being issued to commemorate a sporting event.

Do you remember the old specification £2 coins? Let us know in the comments below!

The bi-metallic £2 coin!

The new type of £2 coin was introduced in 1997 and featured an innovative bi-metallic design – the first in the history of British coinage.

Technology £2 – Issued 1997 – date.

The concentric circles on this design by Bruce Rushin represent mankind’s technological evolution from the Iron Age at the centre, to the cogs and wheels in the first ring representing the Industrial Revolution.

The next ring symbolises the computer age with a pattern derived from a silicon chip and the final outer ring represents the age of the Internet with a connecting web of lines.

This design has been used on definitive £2 coins from 1997 to 2015!

Britain’s Round Pounds

The first UK £1 coin was issued in 1983 to replace the £1 banknote, which only lasted a few months in circulation! The £1 coin quickly became a hit with collectors, with everyone trying to hunt down the different designs.

1983 Royal Coat of Arms £1

The first £1 coin design features the Royal Coat of Arms designed by Eric Sewell, a chief engraver at the Royal Mint. It also features the edge Inscription: DECUS ET TUTAMEN.

This coin was issued in 1983, 1993, 2003, 2008 and has a circulating mintage of 623,304,510.

After more than 30 years in the nation’s pockets, the familiar round £1 coin was replaced with an all new, 12-sided £1 coin in 2017 and it lost its legal tender status at midnight on 15 October 2017.

Despite this, some round pounds remain incredibly popular with collectors, due to their designs and their low mintages.

Nations of the Crown £1

The new £1 coin first entered circulation in March 2017 and it features 12 sides.

2016 Nations of the Crown £1

Billed as the most secure circulating coin in the world, the new £1 has been formally named ‘The Nations of the Crown 2017 UK £1′.

The coin, designed by 15-year-old David Pearce following a public competition in 2015, is made up of the English rose, the Welsh leek, the Scottish thistle and the Northern Irish shamrock emerging from one stem within a royal coronet to represent the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom.

5p and 10p Coins

In 1968 the 10 New Pence coin entered circulation to replace the florin as part of Britain’s conversion to a system of decimal currency.

10 New Pence

The public was uncertain about using this new coin to start with, after generations of pounds, shillings and pence, meaning the Decimal Currency Board still needed to reassure suspicious Britons to go decimal.

Our 10p coin has seen three different definitive designs and in 2018 we saw our first-ever commemorative designs, with the release of 26 A-Z of Great Britain 10p coins!

A-Z of Great Britain 10p coins – first issued in 2018.

In April 1968, 5p coins were issued as a replacement for shillings in preparation for decimalisation in 1971.

5 New Pence.

These were released into circulation at the same time as the very first 10p coins.

In 1990 and 1992, the specifications of the 5p and 10p were reduced, respectively. On 27th June 1990 the new 18.00mm 5p was introduced and 30th September 1992, a reduced size version of the 10 pence coin was introduced


Since decimalisation, we’ve seen some incredible definitive and commemorative designs to our UK coins.

Let us know in the comment which definitive design is your favourite!


Secure the brand new 2021 Decimal Day 50p for your collection!

Secure the 2021 Decimal Day 50p for your collection by clicking here.

You can own yours in CERFITIED Brilliant Uncirculated quality for just £4.50 (+p&p) today.

Click here to own the 2021 UK Decimal Day 50p now >>

Change Checker Live Coin Swap

We’re hosting our second Live Coin Swap on Saturday 21st October at The Oracle Shopping Centre in Reading, Berkshire from 10am – 4pm.

We’ve had lots of reports from Change Checkers who are struggling to complete their 2016 Beatrix Potter sets, so we’ve decided to help.

You’ll be able to swap ANY 50p coin for either the 2016 Petter Rabbit 50p, the 2016 Beatrix Potter 50p or the 2016 Squirrel Nutkin 50p coin.

You can swap ANY 50p coin for either the 2016 Peter Rabbit, Squirrel Nutkin or Beatrix Potter 50p coin

Plus you’ll get the 2016 Beatrix Potter collector pack absolutely free, so you’ll have space to add the rest of the coins when you find them.

This time we’ll also be retailing some of our most popular products including the Change Checker Collectors Album, The 2017 Beatrix Potter 50p collectors pack and the very popular Change Checker ‘Phonescope’ and Microscope.

The Oracle

The Oracle is one of the premier shopping centres in the Thames Valley. We’ll be located on Level 2 outside House of Fraser and near to the Riverside entrance – marked as L1 on the map.

You can find us on Level 2, marked as L1 on the map

For those travelling by car the two main car parks are:  Holy Brook Car Park: RG1 2LR, Bridge Street and The Riverside Car Park: RG1 2AG, Mill Lane

If travelling by train, the Oracle is a short walk from the Station and there’s good park and ride services if travelling by bus.

The Oracle is in the centre of Reading, a short walk from the train station

The full address is: The Oracle Shopping Centre, Reading, RG1 2AG

Can I swap more than one coin?

Such is the popularity of our Live Coin Swaps and to ensure that it is fair for everybody, we’ll be limiting the number of swaps to 1 coin per person.

Will you be doing any more Live Coin Swaps?

That’s the plan! We looked at all your comments and determined that Reading would be a good location for our second event.

We will be holding more Live Coin Swaps in the future and the plan is to visit a different area of the country each time, giving as many people as possible the opportunity to attend.

Can I bring other coins in my collection for you to take a look at?

You are very welcome to bring along other coins in your collection and if there is time we’d be happy to take a look at them for you. We expect the event to be very busy so we apologise in advance if you have a short wait.

 

Change Checker Live Coin Swap

We’re hosting our second Live Coin Swap on Saturday 21st October at The Oracle Shopping Centre in Reading, Berkshire from 10am – 4pm.

We’ve had lots of reports from Change Checkers who are struggling to complete their 2016 Beatrix Potter sets, so we’ve decided to help.

You’ll be able to swap ANY 50p coin for either the 2016 Petter Rabbit 50p, the 2016 Beatrix Potter 50p or the 2016 Squirrel Nutkin 50p coin.

Beatrix Potter 2016 Series

You can swap ANY 50p for the 2016 Peter Rabbit, Beatrix Potter or Squirrel Nutkin 50p coin.

Plus you’ll get the 2016 Beatrix Potter collector pack absolutely free, so you’ll have space to add the rest of the coins when you find them.

This time we’ll also be retailing some of our most popular products including the Change Checker Collectors Album, The 2017 Beatrix Potter 50p collectors pack and the very popular Change Checker ‘Phonescope’ and Microscope.

The Oracle

The Oracle is one of the premier shopping centres in the Thames Valley. We’ll be located on Level 2 outside House of Fraser and near to the Riverside entrance – marked as L1 on the map.

The Oracle

Our Live Coin Swap will take place at ‘L1’ on level 2 of The Oracle Shopping Centre

For those travelling by car the two main car parks are:  Holy Brook Car Park: RG1 2LR, Bridge Street and The Riverside Car Park: RG1 2AG, Mill Lane

If travelling by train, the Oracle is a short walk from the Station and there’s good park and ride services if travelling by bus.

The Oracle Location Map

The Oracle is in the heart of Reading and only a short walk from the train station

The full address is: The Oracle Shopping Centre, Reading, RG1 2AG

Can I swap more than one coin?

Such is the popularity of our Live Coin Swaps and to ensure that it is fair for everybody, we’ll be limiting the number of swaps to 1 coin per person.

Will you be doing any more Live Coin Swaps?

That’s the plan! We looked at all your comments and determined that Reading would be a good location for our second event.

We will be holding more Live Coin Swaps in the future and the plan is to visit a different area of the country each time, giving as many people as possible the opportunity to attend.

Can I bring other coins in my collection for you to take a look at?

You are very welcome to bring along other coins in your collection and if there is time we’d be happy to take a look at them for you. We expect the event to be very busy so we apologise in advance if you have a short wait.


Register for our Live Coin Swap now

You can pre-register for our Live Coin Swap to save you time on the day. Simply fill in the form below and you’ll be able to beat the queues.