2019 Gruffalo 50p
The 2019 Gruffalo 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
- Magic Light Pictures
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 Gruffalo 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 Gruffalo 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 Gruffalo 50p coins were made?
- None were made for circulation. The Mint sold this design only in packs and sets.
- Who designed the 2019 Gruffalo 50p?
- The design is credited to Magic Light Pictures.
- What is the 2019 Gruffalo 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 Gruffalo 50p still legal tender?
- Yes. Every 27.3 mm 50p, including commemoratives, is legal tender in the UK.
Why the 2019 Gruffalo 50p was made
Julia Donaldson's rhyming story The Gruffalo, illustrated by Axel Scheffler, came out in 1999. A small mouse walking through a deep dark wood invents a terrifying monster to scare off the fox, owl and snake who want to eat him, then bumps into the very creature he made up. The book became one of the best loved picture books in Britain and was turned into an animated film that was first shown on Christmas Day 2009.
For the 20th anniversary in 2019 the Royal Mint issued a Gruffalo 50p, the first of two Gruffalo designs that year. It was sold to families and collectors as a brilliant uncirculated coin in a printed pack and was never sent out to banks. So if a Gruffalo 50p lands in your hand at a shop counter, it came from a pack that someone opened before spending the coin. That makes it legal tender worth 50p at any till, though very few people will ever be handed one, since only a trickle escapes from packs into everyday use.
How to recognize it
The reverse shows the Gruffalo on his own, taken from the familiar look of the book's illustrations. The design is credited to Magic Light Pictures, the studio behind the animated films. Queen Elizabeth II appears on the obverse in Jody Clark's portrait with the 2019 date. The main mix-up is with the second Gruffalo coin from the same year, which adds the mouse beside him. If the monster is alone, you have this first design. Like every 50p struck since 1997, it uses the smaller seven-sided blank about 27.3 millimeters across, so size and shape won't help you tell the two Gruffalo coins apart. Only the picture will.
The other side carries Jody Clark's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, introduced in 2015 and the last of her reign.
2019 Gruffalo 50p by the numbers
No circulation mintage exists for the 2019 Gruffalo 50p because none were released to banks. The Royal Mint's other collector-only 50p coins dated 2019 were Stephen Hawking, 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 Gruffalo 50p
- Confirm the design. The reverse should match the The Gruffalo 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.
With no circulation mintage at all, the Gruffalo 50p sits in a different category from the commemorative 50ps issued in their millions through the banks. Children's character coins attract a lot of casual buyers, so demand for clean examples is steady. An intact pack with its card undamaged is what collectors pay a premium for. A coin found in change is usually marked from rubbing against other coins and sits closer to face value or a small premium. Pack coins have bright, unbroken luster and sharp detail on the character, while a spent coin looks duller with tiny nicks across the field.
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 | Magic Light Pictures |
| 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 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
Was the Gruffalo 50p released into circulation?
No. The Royal Mint sold it only as a brilliant uncirculated coin in packs. Any Gruffalo 50p found in change was opened and spent by its owner, so it is legal tender but turns up only occasionally.
Who designed the Gruffalo 50p?
The design is credited to Magic Light Pictures and is based on the character drawn by Axel Scheffler for Julia Donaldson's 1999 book. The obverse uses Jody Clark's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II.
Mintage figures: Fifty pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.