2016 Jemima Puddle-Duck 50p
The 2016 Jemima Puddle-Duck 50p is a circulating 50p with 2.1 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2016
- Circulation mintage
- 2,100,000
- Value band
- Face value
- Designer
- Emma Noble
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 2016 Jemima Puddle-Duck 50p worth?
2.1 million were made, so the 2016 Jemima Puddle-Duck 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 2016 Jemima Puddle-Duck 50p rare?
- No. 2.1 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2016 Jemima Puddle-Duck 50p coins were made?
- 2,100,000 were struck for circulation.
- Who designed the 2016 Jemima Puddle-Duck 50p?
- The design is credited to Emma Noble.
- What is the 2016 Jemima Puddle-Duck 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 2016 Jemima Puddle-Duck 50p still legal tender?
- Yes. Every 27.3 mm 50p, including commemoratives, is legal tender in the UK.
Why the 2016 Jemima Puddle-Duck 50p was made
The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck was published in 1908 and is set at Hill Top, Beatrix Potter's farm near Sawrey in the Lake District. Jemima, a farmyard duck frustrated that the farmer's wife won't let her hatch her own eggs, sets off in her bonnet and shawl to find a safe place to nest. She meets a charming gentleman with foxy whiskers who offers her his shed. Only the farm collie Kep saves her from ending up as his dinner. Hill Top itself appears in the pictures, which show the farm much as Potter knew it.
Jemima was one of four Potter characters chosen for the 2016 50ps that marked the 150th anniversary of the author's birth, alongside a portrait coin of Potter herself. The whole set was the work of Emma Noble. Only 2,100,000 Jemima coins were struck for circulation, by far the lowest of the five. That figure has made her the Potter coin people most often struggle to find in their change. For many collectors she is the final gap in the set.
How to recognize it
The reverse shows Jemima Puddle-Duck in her bonnet and shawl, as Potter drew her, together with her name. A duck in a bonnet is unmistakable, so this one is easy to tell apart from the other Potter coins. Her long neck and shawl give the figure a shape no other Potter coin shares. Jody Clark's portrait of the Queen is on the obverse. The coin is a standard modern 50p, 27.3 mm across, with a plain edge. Check for the date 2016: the Potter series continued with other characters in later years, but this is the version struck for circulation in the anniversary year. Emma Noble is the designer.
The other side carries Jody Clark's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, introduced in 2015 and the last of her reign.
2016 Jemima Puddle-Duck 50p by the numbers
By the numbers, the 2016 Jemima Puddle-Duck 50p ranks 26th lowest of 76 circulating 50p coins with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 2011 Olympic Cycling 50p (2.09 million); the next more common is the 2011 Olympic Fencing 50p (2.12 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1973 EEC Hands 50p with 89.8 million, about 43 times as many. The scarcest is the 1992 Single Market 50p with 109,000, 19 times fewer than this one.
It shared 2016 with 6 other circulating 50p designs: the Squirrel Nutkin (5 million), the Team GB (6.4 million), the Battle of Hastings (6.7 million), the Beatrix Potter (6.9 million), the Mrs Tiggy-Winkle (8.8 million) and the Peter Rabbit (9.7 million). The 2016 Jemima Puddle-Duck 50p was the scarcest of the year.
Within the circulating Beatrix Potter 50p coins, it ranks 4th scarcest, behind the Flopsy Bunny, Peter Rabbit and Mrs Tittlemouse.
What to check on your 2016 Jemima Puddle-Duck 50p
- Confirm the design. The reverse should match the Jemima Puddle-Duck described above and carry the date 2016; 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 2.1 million, Jemima Puddle-Duck has the lowest circulation figure of the 2016 Potter coins and one of the lower figures among modern 50ps, though it is still ten times more plentiful than Kew Gardens. A popular subject and a smaller mintage mean even circulated examples can attract a small premium and sharp ones more. Check the detail in her bonnet and wing, which wear first. A coin that never circulated looks flawless, while one from change shows rubbing on the highest points.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 50 pence |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2016 |
| Circulation mintage | 2,100,000 |
| Composition | Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel) |
| Weight | 8.0 g |
| Diameter | 27.3 mm |
| Shape | Seven-sided (equilateral curve heptagon) |
| Edge | Plain |
| Designer | Emma Noble |
| Portrait | Clark |
Other 2016 50p coins
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 Peter Rabbit 50p | 9,700,000 | Face value |
| 2016 Mrs Tiggy-Winkle 50p | 8,800,000 | Face value |
| 2016 Beatrix Potter 50p | 6,900,000 | Face value |
| 2016 Battle of Hastings 50p | 6,700,000 | Face value |
| 2016 Team GB 50p | 6,400,000 | Face value |
| 2016 Squirrel Nutkin 50p | 5,000,000 | Face value |
Frequently asked questions
Why is the Jemima Puddle-Duck 50p harder to find?
Only 2,100,000 were struck for circulation in 2016, the lowest of the five Beatrix Potter 50ps. Fewer coins in change, plus heavy demand from people completing the set, mean it turns up less often than the other Potter designs.
Is Jemima Puddle-Duck rarer than Kew Gardens?
No. Kew Gardens had about 210,000 coins in circulation, around a tenth of Jemima's 2,100,000. Jemima is scarce compared with other Potter coins, but Kew remains far harder to find in change.
Mintage figures: Fifty pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.