50 Pence - Charles III Atlantic Salmon (2023–2026)

One row for each year the 50 Pence - Charles III Atlantic Salmon was struck. Prices are medians of verified sold listings matched to that year from the listing: circulated is worn condition up to Extremely Fine, uncirculated is About Uncirculated or better. A count in brackets means fewer than three sales behind the figure; a grey figure marked "type" is the median across every year, shown where that year has no sale of its own yet. Most types have been searched year by year only since October 2026, so later years are still filling in. Use the grade table below for a price by condition across all years.

About the 2023 50 Pence - Charles III Atlantic Salmon

The 2023 50 Pence - Charles III Atlantic Salmon is a circulating 50 pence coin issued from 2023 to 2026, struck in copper-nickel (75% Cu, 25% Ni). It weighs 8g and measures 27.3mm across. Reverse design: Atlantic salmon leaping out of water, denomination over royal cypher design at left.

A mintage of 200,000 is recorded for one date of this type; figures for each year are not held.

Common questions

History and design

The Atlantic Salmon 50p is the definitive 50p of King Charles III, one of eight new designs unveiled in early October 2023 for every denomination from the 1p to the £2. Production began the following month and the 50p was the first of the eight to reach the public, entering circulation at the end of November 2023.

Only 200,000 dated 2023 were released to UK banks and post offices. When the Royal Mint published its 2023 figures in October 2024 it named the coin the rarest 50p in active circulation, 10,000 below the 2009 Kew Gardens 50p, which had held that position for 15 years.

The design has continued. The Royal Mint's figures show no circulating coins dated 2024 and 2,000,000 dated 2025, so the scarcity belongs to the 2023 date, not to the design as a whole.

The reverse shows an Atlantic salmon with the inscription 50 PENCE, set against a repeating pattern of three interlocking C's. That pattern runs across all eight coins and refers to the cypher of Charles II. The Royal Mint describes the salmon as a priority conservation species whose wild populations are low because of river pollution, habitat loss, river heating and overfishing.

The Royal Mint credits the reverse to its own design team, working with the Royal Mint Advisory Committee and external artists and supported by the RSPB and the Royal Horticultural Society. The large numeral was a deliberate choice, meant to help children understand the value of money.

The obverse carries the King's coinage portrait by Martin Jennings with the inscription CHARLES III DEI GRA REX FID DEF and the date. The edge is plain.

Varieties and errors

There are two versions of the 2023 coin. Those sold in the Royal Mint's 2023 definitive sets carry a small Tudor Crown privy mark on the obverse. Coin Hunter records that the 200,000 struck for circulation have no privy mark, and that this version was not included in any official set or pack.

No mint errors are documented.

Collecting notes

Check the date first. A 2023 coin is one of 200,000, while a 2025 coin is one of 2,000,000. Then check the obverse for the crown privy mark, which identifies a 2023 set coin.

Collector sets have included the coin each year, and the proclamation also provides for gold, silver, silver piedfort and platinum versions. None of these count towards the circulating figures.

With so few released, a 2023 coin is unlikely to turn up in change. Its predecessor at the top of the list is the Kew Gardens 50p.