50 Pence - Elizabeth II 5th portrait Beatrix Potter (2016)

About the 2016 50 Pence - Elizabeth II – Beatrix Potter

The 2016 50 Pence - Elizabeth II – Beatrix Potter is a circulating 50 pence coin in the Beatrix Potter 50p series, struck in copper-nickel (75% Cu, 25% Ni). It weighs 8g and measures 27.3mm across. Reverse design: Silhouette of Beatrix Potter above and image of Peter Rabbit below the.

6,900,000 were struck.

Common questions

History and design

The Beatrix Potter 50p of 2016 marks the 150th anniversary of the author's birth. It was the first coin in what became the Royal Mint's Beatrix Potter 50p series, and the only one of the series to show Potter herself. The Mint said it was right to begin the collection with a coin celebrating Beatrix, to be followed by four more, each featuring one of her characters. Those four were Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddle-Duck, Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and Squirrel Nutkin.

The proclamation fixing the design was made on 9 December 2015 and also covered the first Peter Rabbit coin. The Royal Mint's figures give 6,900,000 struck for circulation. That is the middle figure of the five 2016 coins, and the middle of the whole series too: of the thirteen circulating Beatrix Potter 50p coins dated 2016 to 2018 in the Royal Mint's figures, six have lower mintages and six have higher.

There was no ordinary Royal Shield 50p for circulation that year. The Mint's figures show none dated 2016, so every 50p of that date found in change is a commemorative.

Emma Noble, a Royal Mint engraver, designed the reverse. The proclamation describes it as a silhouette of Beatrix Potter accompanied by an image of Peter Rabbit, surrounded by a floral motif, with the inscription BEATRIX POTTER 1866 1943. The two dates are the years of her birth and death.

The Royal Mint says Noble included elements that celebrate Potter as the artist behind some of the best-loved characters in children's literature, and used a nostalgic font for the inscription that echoes the lettering of her books.

The obverse carries the fifth portrait of the Queen, by Jody Clark, with the inscription ELIZABETH II D G REG F D 50 PENCE 2016. The value and date are therefore on the obverse, leaving the reverse free for the design. The edge is plain.

Collecting notes

No recognised varieties or mint errors are documented for this coin.

The same proclamation provided for gold, silver and silver piedfort versions of this design alongside the cupro-nickel coin. The Royal Mint sold the gold proof as one of only 750 to be struck. A Brilliant Uncirculated version was sold on its own and in a five-coin set with the four character coins. All share the design of the coin in change.

This is a current-size 50p (27.3mm, 8g), so it still circulates. On a coin from change, look at the fine lines of the floral border and the small lettering of the dates, which soften first with wear.

The character coins that followed include the Peter Rabbit 50p and the lowest mintage of the year, the Jemima Puddle-Duck 50p.