2019 Stephen Hawking 50p
The 2019 Stephen Hawking 50p is a Royal Mint collector issue that was never released into circulation. Value band: small premium. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2019
- Issued as
- Collector packs and sets only
- Value band
- Small premium
- Designer
- Edwina Ellis
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 Stephen Hawking 50p worth?
This design was never released into circulation. The Royal Mint sold it in brilliant uncirculated packs and annual sets, so almost every example is a collector piece. One found in change is still legal tender at 50 pence; out of its pack it brings a small premium at most, while a coin still sealed in its original packaging is what collectors want.
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 Stephen Hawking 50p rare?
- It is scarcer than most 50p coins. It was never issued into circulation, so most examples are in collector packs.
- How many 2019 Stephen Hawking 50p coins were made?
- None were made for circulation. The Mint sold this design only in packs and sets.
- Who designed the 2019 Stephen Hawking 50p?
- The design is credited to Edwina Ellis.
- What is the 2019 Stephen Hawking 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 Stephen Hawking 50p still legal tender?
- Yes. Every 27.3 mm 50p, including commemoratives, is legal tender in the UK.
Why the 2019 Stephen Hawking 50p was made
Stephen Hawking was one of the best known scientists of his age. Diagnosed with motor neuron disease at 21, he went on to spend three decades as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge, from 1979 to 2009. His book A Brief History of Time (1988) carried cosmology to millions of general readers. His best known result showed that black holes should give off radiation and slowly lose energy, an effect now called Hawking radiation. He died in March 2018.
A year after his death the Royal Mint honored him with a 50p that opened its Innovation in Science series. Later coins in the run celebrated Rosalind Franklin, John Logie Baird, Charles Babbage and the discovery of insulin. The Hawking coin was offered only as a brilliant uncirculated coin in packs and was never put into general circulation. Spotting one in your change means someone bought the pack and later spent the coin. It remains legal tender for 50p and is perfectly fine to spend, but it is a rare find in a till.
How to recognize it
Edwina Ellis designed the reverse, which shows a stylized black hole beside the formula Hawking worked on for the entropy of a black hole, the equation linking the hole's disorder to the area of its event horizon. His name appears with the design. Queen Elizabeth II, in Jody Clark's portrait, is on the obverse with the year 2019. No other 50p shows a black hole, so confusion with other designs is unlikely; the more useful check is whether the surfaces are clean pack condition or worn from use. The coin is a standard seven-sided cupronickel 50p weighing 8 grams with a plain edge.
The other side carries Jody Clark's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, introduced in 2015 and the last of her reign.
2019 Stephen Hawking 50p by the numbers
No circulation mintage exists for the 2019 Stephen Hawking 50p because none were released to banks. The Royal Mint's other collector-only 50p coins dated 2019 were The Gruffalo, Peter Rabbit, 50 Years of the 50p: British Culture Set, 50 Years of the 50p: British Military Set, The Gruffalo and Mouse, Wallace and Gromit and The Snowman.
For comparison, the 50p coins that did reach change in 2019 were the Paddington at the Tower (9 million), the Paddington at St Paul's (9 million) and the Sherlock Holmes (8.6 million).
What to check on your 2019 Stephen Hawking 50p
- Confirm the design. The reverse should match the Stephen Hawking 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.
Because no coins were issued to banks, the Hawking 50p does not compete with circulating 50ps on numbers at all. It is a pack coin first and foremost. Science fans and series collectors keep it in demand. A sealed pack draws a collector premium, while a loose coin from change normally shows bag marks and light wear, especially across the formula, which reduces interest to around face value or a small premium. Hold a pack coin at an angle and you'll see unbroken mint luster with crisp, fine lines around the black hole; on a spent coin those lines soften first.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 50 pence |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2019 |
| Circulation mintage | None (collector issue) |
| Composition | Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel) |
| Weight | 8.0 g |
| Diameter | 27.3 mm |
| Shape | Seven-sided (equilateral curve heptagon) |
| Edge | Plain |
| Designer | Edwina Ellis |
| Portrait | Clark |
Other 2019 50p coins
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 Paddington at the Tower 50p | 9,001,000 | Face value |
| 2019 Paddington at St Paul's 50p | 9,001,000 | Face value |
| 2019 Sherlock Holmes 50p | 8,602,000 | Face value |
| 2019 Gruffalo 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 Stephen Hawking 50p in circulation?
Not officially. It was sold only in brilliant uncirculated packs, so the few found in change were bought, opened and spent. It is still legal tender at 50p, but you are unlikely to come across one by chance.
What is the formula on the Stephen Hawking 50p?
It is the equation for the entropy of a black hole, tying that entropy to the area of the event horizon. Hawking's work on it led to the idea that black holes emit radiation.
Mintage figures: Fifty pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.