2019 Paddington at St Paul's 50p
The 2019 Paddington at St Paul's 50p is a circulating 50p with 9 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2019
- Circulation mintage
- 9,001,000
- Value band
- Face value
- Designer
- David Knapton
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 2019 Paddington at St Paul's 50p worth?
9 million were made, so the 2019 Paddington at St Paul's 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 2019 Paddington at St Paul's 50p rare?
- No. 9 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2019 Paddington at St Paul's 50p coins were made?
- 9,001,000 were struck for circulation.
- Who designed the 2019 Paddington at St Paul's 50p?
- The design is credited to David Knapton.
- What is the 2019 Paddington at St Paul's 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 2019 Paddington at St Paul's 50p still legal tender?
- Yes. Every 27.3 mm 50p, including commemoratives, is legal tender in the UK.
Why the 2019 Paddington at St Paul's 50p was made
St Paul's Cathedral, with its great dome, is one of the most recognizable buildings in London. Sir Christopher Wren designed the present cathedral after the Great Fire of 1666 destroyed the medieval church on the site. It was declared complete in 1711. It has hosted royal occasions and state funerals over the centuries. Its dome is a familiar part of the city skyline.
The Royal Mint chose it as the setting for the fourth and final coin in its Paddington series, released in 2019 together with Paddington at the Tower. The set began in 2018 with Paddington at the Station, marking the 60th anniversary of the first book, plus Paddington at the Palace. The St Paul's coin had a circulation mintage of 9,001,000, matching the Tower coin. Those two 2019 releases were struck in larger numbers than the 2018 pair, so they tend to be the easier half of the set to find in change. For families collecting all four, St Paul's is often the last one they need simply because it came out last. It rounds off a series that took the bear on a tour of London.
How to recognize it
David Knapton shows Paddington raising his hat in front of St Paul's Cathedral. The polite gesture suits the character, who is famous for his good manners. The dome rising behind him makes the coin easy to identify. The other coins in the set show him with a flag at Buckingham Palace, with a marmalade sandwich at the Tower and sitting indoors at Paddington Station. A quick look for the dome settles it. Check for the 2019 date. Queen Elizabeth II appears on the obverse in the portrait by Jody Clark. Like all modern 50ps it is a seven-sided cupronickel coin 27.3 mm across, struck without color for circulation.
The other side carries Jody Clark's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, introduced in 2015 and the last of her reign.
2019 Paddington at St Paul's 50p by the numbers
In mintage terms the 2019 Paddington at St Paul's 50p ranks 62nd lowest of 76 circulating 50p coins with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 2019 Paddington at the Tower 50p (9 million); the next more common is the 2004 Roger Bannister 50p (9.03 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1973 EEC Hands 50p with 89.8 million, about 10 times as many. The scarcest is the 1992 Single Market 50p with 109,000, 83 times fewer than this one.
It was released in 2019 alongside 2 other circulating 50p designs: the Sherlock Holmes (8.6 million) and the Paddington at the Tower (9 million). The 2019 Paddington at St Paul's 50p was the most plentiful of the year.
Within the circulating Paddington 50p coins, it ranks 4th scarcest, behind the Paddington at the Station, Paddington at the Palace and Paddington at the Tower.
What to check on your 2019 Paddington at St Paul's 50p
- Confirm the design. The reverse should match the Paddington at St Paul's described above and carry the date 2019; 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.
A mintage of 9,001,000 makes this a common coin, so a circulated example is a face value coin. It is still a nice one to keep, particularly if you are building the Paddington set. When choosing between coins, look for a sharp outline on the cathedral dome and a crisp brim on Paddington's raised hat, since both flatten with wear. You will also see it in Royal Mint brilliant uncirculated packs. You can usually tell a pack coin by its mirror-bright fields and lack of marks; a coin from change looks duller and carries small scratches.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 50 pence |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2019 |
| Circulation mintage | 9,001,000 |
| Composition | Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel) |
| Weight | 8.0 g |
| Diameter | 27.3 mm |
| Shape | Seven-sided (equilateral curve heptagon) |
| Edge | Plain |
| Designer | David Knapton |
| Portrait | Clark |
Other 2019 50p coins
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 Paddington at the Tower 50p | 9,001,000 | Face value |
| 2019 Sherlock Holmes 50p | 8,602,000 | Face value |
| 2019 Gruffalo 50p | Collector issue | Small premium |
| 2019 Stephen Hawking 50p | Collector issue | Small premium |
| 2019 Peter Rabbit 50p | Collector issue | Small premium |
| 2019 50 Years of the 50p: British Culture Set 50p | Collector issue | Small premium |
| 2019 50 Years of the 50p: British Military Set 50p | Collector issue | Small premium |
| 2019 Gruffalo and Mouse 50p | Collector issue | Small premium |
| 2019 Wallace and Gromit 50p | Collector issue | Small premium |
| 2019 Snowman 50p | Collector issue | Small premium |
Frequently asked questions
Is the Paddington at St Paul's 50p rare?
Not really. The Royal Mint struck 9,001,000 for circulation in 2019, which ties it with Paddington at the Tower for the highest mintage of the four Paddington 50ps. It is a common coin found regularly in change.
What is the last Paddington 50p?
Paddington at St Paul's and Paddington at the Tower were the last two circulating Paddington 50ps, both released in 2019. They followed the 2018 coins at Paddington Station and Buckingham Palace to complete a set of four.
Mintage figures: Fifty pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.