1983 Britannia 50p Coin
The 1983 Britannia 50p is a 50p coin struck for circulation with 62.8 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1983
- Circulation mintage
- 62,824,904
- Value band
- Face value
- Composition
- Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel)
Original illustration of the coin's shape and metal. Tap to flip. Not a picture of the actual design.
Face value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is a 1983 Britannia 50p worth?
62.8 million were made, so the 1983 Britannia 50p is common. It is the original large size, which is no longer legal tender, so a worn one has no spending value; collectors only want uncirculated examples and the scarcer dates.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with no scratches
- A sets-only date or a low circulation year
- A genuine mint error
For market prices, look at recent sold results for the same coin in the same condition, not asking prices.
Quick answers
- Is the 1983 Britannia 50p rare?
- No. 62.8 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 1983 50p coins were made?
- 62,824,904 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 1983 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 1983 Britannia 50p still legal tender?
- No. The original 30 mm 50p stopped being legal tender in 1998, after the smaller coin arrived in 1997.
The 1983 50p coin in context
The 1983 figure of 62,824,904 was the last big order for the large Britannia 50p with Arnold Machin's portrait. It came in a busy year for British coins. The round pound coin entered circulation in April 1983, the start of the long goodbye to the pound note. With the 20p only a year old as well, the decimal coinage was being filled out at both ends while the 50p carried on in the middle. The 50p itself was still one of the workhorses of daily spending, used for bus fares, groceries and pocket money.
It turned out to be the end of an era. The 1984 date was struck only for collector sets and in 1985 a new portrait arrived. After that, the Royal Mint struck large 50ps for circulation only once more, in tiny numbers in 1985. So 1983 is the last date of the large coin made in real quantity. Millions of these coins remained in use until the large 50p was withdrawn. It ceased to be legal tender at the end of February 1998.
How to recognize it
This is the second year of the FIFTY PENCE wording, which replaced NEW PENCE in 1982. Ironside's Britannia is unchanged, seated with her lion, trident, olive branch and Union Flag shield, with the numeral 50 below. The obverse is Arnold Machin's portrait of the Queen in a tiara, making its final circulation appearance on the 50p. Like every early 50p it is cupronickel, 30 mm wide and 13.5 g in weight. If your large coin reads FIFTY PENCE and shows the younger Machin portrait, it dates from 1982 to 1984. The edge is plain and the coin has the same constant width as every 50p, so it still rolls true.
The other side carries Arnold Machin's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, used on UK coins from 1968 to 1984.
1983 Britannia 50p by the numbers
In mintage terms the 1983 Britannia 50p ranks 26th lowest of 34 50p dates and varieties from 1969 to 2023. The next scarcer is the 1979 Britannia 50p (58.7 million); the next more common is the 1998 Britannia 50p (64.3 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1997 Small Britannia 50p with 456.4 million, about 7.3 times as many. The scarcest is the 2023 Atlantic Salmon 50p with 200,000, 314 times fewer than this one.
Compared with the dates around it, the 1983 output was 1.2 times the 1982 figure and 92 times the 1985 figure.
Over the 1980s the Mint produced 277.9 million regular 50p coins across 10 dates and varieties; the 1983 Britannia 50p accounts for 23% of that.
What to check on your 1983 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.
A 1983 50p is common. With nearly 63 million made it turns up in old coin jars all the time and worn ones are face value pieces to collectors. It makes a good partner for a 1982 in a set, showing the FIFTY PENCE wording with the first portrait. Sharp uncirculated coins draw a small premium. The scarcer Machin date is the 1984, which you will only find if someone broke up a collector set. A worn 1983 is also a good coin for a child starting a first collection of old money.
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
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 50 pence |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 1983 |
| Circulation mintage | 62,824,904 |
| Composition | Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel) |
| Weight | 13.5 g |
| Diameter | 30 mm |
| Shape | Seven-sided (equilateral curve heptagon) |
| Edge | Plain |
| Portrait | Machin |
Frequently asked questions
Is the 1983 50p the last one with the Machin portrait?
It is the last made for circulation. The 1984 date also carries Machin's portrait, but it was struck only for collector sets. Raphael Maklouf's portrait replaced it on all British coins in 1985.
How can you tell a 1983 50p from a 1979 one without the date?
Look at the wording above Britannia. Coins from 1969 to 1981 read NEW PENCE. From 1982 onward they read FIFTY PENCE. Everything else about the large coin stayed the same.
Mintage figures: Fifty pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.