1981 Britannia 50p Coin

Quick answers

Is the 1981 Britannia 50p rare?

No. 74 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.

How many 1981 50p coins were made?

74,002,000 were struck for circulation.

What is the 1981 Britannia 50p made of?

Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel). It weighs 13.5 g and measures 30 mm, with a seven-sided (equilateral curve heptagon) shape.

Is the 1981 Britannia 50p still legal tender?

No. The original 30 mm 50p stopped being legal tender in 1998, after the smaller coin arrived in 1997.

How to recognize it

The other side carries Arnold Machin's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, used on UK coins from 1968 to 1984.

The 1981 Britannia 50p is seven-sided (equilateral curve heptagon), 30 mm across and cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel).

1981 Britannia 50p by the numbers

Measured by how many were made, the 1981 Britannia 50p ranks 29th lowest of 34 50p dates and varieties from 1969 to 2023. The next scarcer is the 1978 Britannia 50p (72 million); the next more common is the 2001 Britannia 50p (85 million).

For scale, the most common is the 1997 Small Britannia 50p with 456.4 million, about 6.2 times as many. The scarcest is the 2023 Atlantic Salmon 50p with 200,000, 370 times fewer than this one.

Compared with the dates around it, the 1981 output was 1.2 times fewer than 1980 and 1.4 times the 1982 figure.

Over the 1980s the Mint produced 277.9 million regular 50p coins across 10 dates and varieties; the 1981 Britannia 50p accounts for 27% of that.

What to check on your 1981 Britannia 50p

• Confirm the date. Most dates are common, so the date and any variety decide whether a coin is worth setting aside.
• Check the size: this date is the original 30 mm coin, which weighs 13.5 g, with seven curved sides.
• Look at the surfaces under a light. Coins from sets have unbroken luster and color; change-worn coins are dull and scuffed.
• Never clean it. Rubbing or dipping strips the original color and leaves fine scratches.

Large Britannia 50p with the Machin portrait (1969 to 1984)

The 50p went into circulation on 14 October 1969, well over a year before Decimal Day, as the replacement for the ten shilling note. Fifty new pence equaled ten shillings exactly, so the coin could be spent alongside the old money from its first morning. Notes of that value wore out fast in daily use, while a coin could last for decades. The shape was the talking point. This was the first seven-sided coin, with every side gently curved so the coin measures the same distance across from any edge. That constant width lets it work in machines like a round coin.

Christopher Ironside's reverse shows Britannia seated beside a lion, holding a trident and an olive branch, with a shield bearing the Union Flag at her side. NEW PENCE runs above her and a large 50 sits below. In 1982 the wording changed to FIFTY PENCE when the word NEW was dropped from every British coin. Arnold Machin's portrait of the Queen in a tiara is on the obverse for the whole period. These are big, heavy coins: cupronickel, 30 mm across and 13.5 g.

The run has gaps that surprise people. The giant 1969 launch left banks so well stocked that no Britannia 50ps were struck for circulation in 1971, 1972, 1974 or 1975. The year 1973 went to the commemorative hands design marking entry to the European Economic Community. The 1984 date was made only for collector sets too. The large 50p stopped being legal tender at the end of February 1998, so every coin from this era is now a keepsake rather than spendable money. Condition matters more than date on most of them. Look for crisp hair on Britannia, a clear lion's mane and fields free of heavy scratches.

Mintage chart

Specifications