Brexit 50p Coins Royal Mint

On 31 January 2020, a new 50p coin observing the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union will be released. The coin will be available as gold and silver Proof editions, as well as a Brilliant Uncirculated edition and as part of a two-coin historic set.

Where to buy the Brexit 50p coin That’s one happy face (Picture: HM Treasury/PA) For one day only, on 31 January, The Royal Mint will open the doors of their South Wales HQ and allow people to. Brexit 50p coins to be shredded and melted down by Royal Mint 21 comments Limited edition Brexit 50p coins, dated October 31 2019, are set to be shredded and melted down after the UK’s departure.

The first images of the Brexit 50p have been unveiled by Chancellor Sajid Javid, with the coin set to enter circulation on Friday, 31 January.

The coins will flood banks and stores nationwide to mark Brexit day.

Here, Which? explores whether it’s worth hanging on to a Brexit 50p coin as a collector’s item if you find it in your change.

What does the Brexit coin look like?

Images unveiled over the weekend confirm what we all expected: the coin’s design is the same as the now-infamous ’31 October 2019′ design, but with 31 January 2020 replacing the former date.

While other commemorative coins tend to depict what they are celebrating (the Paddington 50p has a picture of Paddington on it, for example), the message ‘Peace, prosperity and friendship with all nations’ is not explicitly Brexit-related.

Author Philip Pullman criticised the coin’s punctuation, noting the lack of an Oxford comma after the word ‘prosperity’. An Oxford comma can be used after the penultimate item in a list of three or more items, but using one isn’t essential. Which? is not officially weighing into the debate, but our house style is not to use one in most cases.

How rare is the Brexit 50p?

Once it enters circulation, the new Brexit coin will not be rare.

Three million are scheduled to circulate on 31 January, with seven million more to follow over the rest of the year.

With 10 million in circulation, the Brexit 50p will have a higher mintage than any 2018 design. It’s possible that the last commemorative coins to have circulation figures like these were the Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny designs from 2017.

This would make the Brexit coin one of only three commemorative 50ps to receive 10 million mintage since 2015. The Royal Mint hasn’t released 2019 mintage figures yet, so we can’t be certain this is the case.

How much is the Brexit 50p coin worth?

While some coins do eventually have resale value above their face value, the Brexit 50p is technically only worth 50p. That’s 59 cents in euros.

There’s no guarantee that any collectible coin will ever be worth more than the number on its face, as multiple experts warned on the coins episode of the Which? Money Podcast:

How likely am I to find one?

Whether you’re avoiding them or seeking them, there’s no way of knowing exactly how likely you are to find a Brexit 50p in your change. Banks, post offices and shops will receive them on 31 January, so you might be more likely to find one around this time, while they’re ‘fresh’, and before people take them home.

If waiting to find one by chance doesn’t appeal to you, uncirculated versions of these coins will be available to buy from the Royal Mint website. Some 13,000 people have registered their interest online so far, but at the time of publishing it wasn’t clear when the coins would go on sale.

What are the rarest 50p coins?

The table below shows the 50ps with the lowest numbers in circulation. It’s important to remember, though, that mintage is not the only factor that affects a coin’s rarity or value as a collector’s item.

Brexit 50p timeline

Much like Brexit itself, the Brexit 50p has had a bumpy ride, facing multiple delays since it was first announced.

October 2018: Philip Hammond, then-Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced plans for a Brexit coin to be issued on the day the UK left the EU.

At the time, this was pencilled in as 29 March 2019. The coin was expected to say ‘Friendship with all nations’, and 10,000 were planned to be circulated.

March 2019: After Parliament voted to reject the government’s Brexit deal, the UK did not leave the EU and no coins were produced.

August 2019: Reports emerged that Sajid Javid, who had taken over as Chancellor, was planning to get millions of Brexit 50ps into circulation in time for the new exit date of 31 October – a huge increase on the thousands Philip Hammond had planned.

Images of this coin’s design were released to the press. It looked the same as the final design, but with the 31 October 2019 date engraved. Including this date was seen as bold, since leaving the EU on that day seemed far from certain.

October 2019: When the UK did not leave the EU on 31 October, the Royal Mint melted down millions of Brexit 50ps that had already been produced.

January 2020: Over a year after the idea was floated, the Brexit 50p will enter circulation.

Find out more: more coins stories from Which?

Discover more about the Brexit 50p

The arrival of the Brexit 50p, officially known as the 'Withdrawal from the European Union 2020' 50p coin, didn't go smoothly – just like the political maze of the Brexit process itself.

10,000 coins expected: The 50p Brexit coin was unveiled by former Chancellor or the Exchequer Philip Hammond with the intention that the coin would have a mintage of around 10,000 and be issued in March 2019.
Millions of coins: In August 2019, with Brexit still being debated, Chancellor Sajid Javid said he wanted to add millions of 'Brexit' 50p coins into circulation, changing the initial plans for the commemorative coin to remain 'uncirculated'.
Brexit delays: With delays to the Brexit process, the planned design, with the date of the UK's departure from the EU detailed as 31 March 2019, was updated to read 31 October 2019.
Protests against the coin: Not everyone approved of the idea of the 50p coin. Liberal Democrat councillor Eleanor Rylance protested against the coin and encouraged the general public to return the coin to the bank and ask for an alternative if and when it was issued.

Millions of coins melted down

Millions melted down: just days before the UK was supposed to leave the EU in October 2019, it was confirmed that approximately 3 million coins would be recycled since the date of 31 October would be incorrect.
Eventual release of the Brexit 50p: The Brexit 50p was officially released on 31 January 2020, on the day the UK left the EU and started a one-year transition process. It was revealed that 7,000,000 copies of the coin would be entered into circulation over the course of the year, and this number soon went up to 10 million.
Disapproval from some quarters: it was no surprise that the eventual release of the coin was not met with approval from all sides. Author Philip Pullman said on twitter: 'The 'Brexit' 50p coin is missing an Oxford comma, and should be boycotted by all literate people.'

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So how rare are the Brexit 50p coins?

Brexit 50p Coin

With a reported 10 million in circulation and The Royal Mint's official mintage being 'unlimited', the coin is hardly rare. So you may wonder why you don't see many of the coins in your loose change.

According to reports, the coins are being taken out of circulation by collectors and by those who do not approve of the coin, although The Royal Mint confirmed it is normal for people to keep unusual coins when they are initially issued.

Examples of the Brexit 50p have been sold on auction sites such as ebay for around £2 - £3, but we recommend you keep an eye on your change to find an example for face value.

Whilst some newspapers reported that versions of the coin with the incorrect date may surface, no find have been reported.

A Brilliant Uncirculated version of the coin, costing £10 from The Royal Mint, proved very popular when the coin was first issues, with demand crashing the RM website. This version of the coin is still available.

The design and details of the Brexit 50p

The commemorative coins are engraved with the words “Peace, prosperity and friendship with all nations” along with the 31 January 2020 date. The versions of the coin released were as follows:

Circulation coin
Brilliant uncirculated (available for £10)
Silver Proof Brexit 50p (mintage of 47,000, retailed for £62.50 and now sold out)
Gold Proof Brexit 50p (mintage of 1,500, retailed for £1,100 and now sold out)
A two-coin set was also made available, including the Brexit 50p and the 1973 50p coin which marked the United Kingdom’s accession into the European Economic Community. This set was limited to 5,000 copies, retailed at £30 and has now sold out.