1990 Britannia 50p Coin

Quick answers

Is the 1990 Britannia 50p rare?

It is scarcer than most 50p coins. It was never issued into circulation, so most examples are in collector packs.

How many 1990 50p coins were made?

None were made for circulation. The Mint sold this design only in packs and sets.

What is the 1990 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 1990 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 Raphael Maklouf's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, used from 1985 to 1997.

The 1990 Britannia 50p is seven-sided (equilateral curve heptagon), 30 mm across and cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel).

1990 Britannia 50p by the numbers

No 1990 50p coins were struck for circulation, so none were paid out by banks.

What to check on your 1990 Britannia 50p

• Confirm the date. 1990 50p coins came only from collector sets, so a genuine one is often in very good condition.
• 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.

Maklouf portrait and the end of the large 50p (1985 to 1997)

Raphael Maklouf's portrait arrived on all British coins in 1985, showing the Queen wearing the George IV State Diadem, with his initials RDM under the bust. The reverse stayed the same: Ironside's seated Britannia with FIFTY PENCE above and the numeral 50 below, on the same 30 mm, 13.5 g cupronickel coin. What changed was demand. The country already held enormous numbers of large 50ps from the 1970s and early 1980s, so the Royal Mint struck very few new ones for change in these years.

In fact 1985 is the only date of this era with large 50ps made for circulation. Only 682,103 were struck. Every other large date from 1986 to 1993, plus 1995, 1996 and the large 1997, came only in collector sets. The year 1994 went to the D-Day commemorative design instead. The large coin had long drawn complaints for being heavy and bulky. In September 1997 the Royal Mint replaced it with a smaller version, 27.3 mm across and 8 g, with the same seven sides and the same Britannia. A huge run of the small coin replaced the old ones in a matter of months.

The large 50p ceased to be legal tender at the end of February 1998, so Maklouf large coins can only be kept, not spent. Small 1997 coins are still legal tender and turn up in change today. Measure before you do anything else: 30 mm means a large coin, 27.3 mm a small one. Large Maklouf coins found loose in old jars almost always started life in a broken set, since so few of them were ever paid out by banks.

Mintage chart

Specifications