2005 Samuel Johnson's Dictionary 50p
The 2005 Samuel Johnson's Dictionary 50p is a circulating 50p with 17.6 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2005
- Circulation mintage
- 17,649,000
- Value band
- Face value
- Designer
- Tom Phillips
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 2005 Samuel Johnson's Dictionary 50p worth?
17.6 million were made, so the 2005 Samuel Johnson's Dictionary 50p is easy to find. A circulated one is worth face value; collectors pay a little more only for uncirculated coins and coins still in their original Royal Mint pack.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with no scratches or contact marks
- Original Royal Mint pack or presentation folder
- A genuine mint error, confirmed by an expert
For market prices, look at recent sold results for the same coin in the same condition, not asking prices.
Quick answers
- Is the 2005 Samuel Johnson's Dictionary 50p rare?
- No. 17.6 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2005 Samuel Johnson's Dictionary 50p coins were made?
- 17,649,000 were struck for circulation.
- Who designed the 2005 Samuel Johnson's Dictionary 50p?
- The design is credited to Tom Phillips.
- What is the 2005 Samuel Johnson's Dictionary 50p made of?
- Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel). It weighs 8.0 g and measures 27.3 mm, with a seven-sided (equilateral curve heptagon) shape.
- Is the 2005 Samuel Johnson's Dictionary 50p still legal tender?
- Yes. Every 27.3 mm 50p, including commemoratives, is legal tender in the UK.
Why the 2005 Samuel Johnson's Dictionary 50p was made
Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language was published in 1755 after about nine years of work, most of it done by Johnson himself with only a handful of assistants. It was not the first English dictionary, but it set new standards with careful definitions and thousands of quotations from writers showing how each word was used. Some entries are famously witty or opinionated. It remained the leading English dictionary until the Oxford English Dictionary began to appear well over a century later.
For the 250th anniversary in 2005 the Royal Mint issued a 50p with a clever idea at its heart. The artist Tom Phillips, known for work that combines words and images, used Johnson's own entries for the two words that make up the coin's name. More than 17.6 million were struck for circulation, making it one of the most plentiful commemorative 50ps of its decade. Phillips later returned to the denomination with the 2013 Benjamin Britten design, which also relies on lettering rather than a picture.
How to recognize it
Instead of a picture, the reverse is a block of type. It reproduces the dictionary entries for FIFTY and PENCE as they appeared in Johnson's work, with a large figure 50 above them and the words JOHNSON'S DICTIONARY 1755 at the bottom. The old-fashioned lettering and the definitions make it easy to spot among other 50ps. The obverse shows Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of the Queen and the coin is 27.3 mm with a plain edge. If you can read the definitions clearly, the coin has seen little wear, because the small text goes first. It reads almost like a tiny page torn from the book. Tom Phillips is the designer.
The other side carries Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, used from 1998 to 2015.
2005 Samuel Johnson's Dictionary 50p by the numbers
Measured by how many were made, the 2005 Samuel Johnson's Dictionary 50p ranks 73rd lowest of 76 circulating 50p coins with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 2006 Victoria Cross 50p (12.1 million); the next more common is the 2017 Peter Rabbit 50p (19.9 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1973 EEC Hands 50p with 89.8 million, about 5.1 times as many. The scarcest is the 1992 Single Market 50p with 109,000, 162 times fewer than this one.
It was the only circulating commemorative 50p dated 2005. The regular Britannia reverse accounted for another 25.4 million that year.
What to check on your 2005 Samuel Johnson's Dictionary 50p
- Confirm the design. The reverse should match the Samuel Johnson's Dictionary described above and carry the date 2005; similar designs from other years are a common mix-up.
- Weigh it if you can: a genuine 27.3 mm 50p weighs 8.0 g. Copies are often light, slightly soft in detail or the wrong color.
- Ignore painted or colored versions sold online as special editions. Color added after the coin left the Mint does not make it a Royal Mint issue and does not add collector value.
- Look at the surfaces under a bright light. Coins straight from a pack have unbroken luster; change-worn coins show scuffs on the high points of the portrait and design.
At more than 17.6 million, this is among the most common commemorative 50ps in circulation and worn ones are worth face value. That makes it an easy way to own an unusual design. Collectors who want something better look for a coin where every letter of the definitions is readable. Light wear soon blurs the small type, so a coin with sharp text is uncommon from change. One saved from new will also have unbroken luster across the field, while circulated pieces look dull and scratched.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 50 pence |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2005 |
| Circulation mintage | 17,649,000 |
| Composition | Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel) |
| Weight | 8.0 g |
| Diameter | 27.3 mm |
| Shape | Seven-sided (equilateral curve heptagon) |
| Edge | Plain |
| Designer | Tom Phillips |
| Portrait | Rank-Broadley |
Frequently asked questions
What does the Samuel Johnson 50p say?
It reproduces Johnson's dictionary entries for the words FIFTY and PENCE, with a figure 50 above and JOHNSON'S DICTIONARY 1755 below. The text is small, so a magnifying glass helps if you want to read the definitions in full.
Is the Samuel Johnson 50p rare?
No. The Royal Mint struck 17,649,000 for circulation in 2005, one of the higher figures for any commemorative 50p. Circulated coins are easy to find and only sharp uncirculated examples draw much attention from collectors.
Mintage figures: Fifty pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.