2020 Brexit 50p
The 2020 Brexit 50p is a circulating 50p with 10 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2020
- Circulation mintage
- 10,001,000
- Value band
- Face value
- Composition
- Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel)
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 2020 Brexit 50p worth?
10 million were made, so the 2020 Brexit 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 2020 Brexit 50p rare?
- No. 10 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2020 Brexit 50p coins were made?
- 10,001,000 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 2020 Brexit 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 2020 Brexit 50p still legal tender?
- Yes. Every 27.3 mm 50p, including commemoratives, is legal tender in the UK.
Why the 2020 Brexit 50p was made
The United Kingdom left the European Union at 11pm on 31 January 2020. This 50p marks the date. Getting there took longer than anyone planned. The coin was first prepared for 29 March 2019, the original exit date, but that version was never issued when the deadline moved. A second version dated 31 October 2019 was actually struck. About a million of those coins had to be shredded and melted down after the date changed again. Only the third version, dated 31 January 2020, reached circulation. Sajid Javid, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced the final version.
The Royal Mint struck 10,001,000 of the final coins for circulation. The first went into change on the day the UK left. The coin was divisive from the start. Some people welcomed it as a record of a historic moment, while others said they would refuse to accept it. The novelist Philip Pullman added a different complaint: the slogan leaves out the comma before "and", which he said should lead literate people to boycott it. Few coins have ever caused an argument about punctuation, but this one did.
How to recognize it
The reverse carries the slogan PEACE, PROSPERITY AND FRIENDSHIP WITH ALL NATIONS in a calligraphic font, with the date 31 JANUARY 2020. The full date is the detail to check, since it confirms you have the version that was actually issued. The wording echoes a line from Thomas Jefferson's first inaugural address of 1801. If you ever see one dated 31 October 2019 or 29 March 2019, be very cautious: those versions were never released. Jody Clark's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II is on the obverse of this 27.3 mm cupronickel coin, which has the usual seven sides of every 50p.
The other side carries Jody Clark's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, introduced in 2015 and the last of her reign.
2020 Brexit 50p by the numbers
Measured by how many were made, the 2020 Brexit 50p ranks 69th lowest of 76 circulating 50p coins with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 2006 Victoria Cross Heroic Acts 50p (10 million); the next more common is the 2020 Diversity Built Britain 50p (10.3 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1973 EEC Hands 50p with 89.8 million, about 9 times as many. The scarcest is the 1992 Single Market 50p with 109,000, 92 times fewer than this one.
2020 brought 1 other circulating 50p design: the Diversity Built Britain (10.3 million). The 2020 Brexit 50p was the scarcest of the year.
What to check on your 2020 Brexit 50p
- Confirm the design. The reverse should match the Brexit described above and carry the date 2020; 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.
Ten million coins is a large mintage, so a circulated Brexit 50p is a face value coin. Its interest is historical rather than financial. Plenty of people keep one simply as a souvenir of the period. The calligraphic lettering is thin and wears quickly, so a sharp coin is the better keeper. The Royal Mint packaged brilliant uncirculated examples for collectors as well. Pack coins have bright, flawless fields, while coins from change are duller and carry scratches. Treat any coin claiming one of the earlier dates with suspicion, since none of them were issued.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 50 pence |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2020 |
| Circulation mintage | 10,001,000 |
| Composition | Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel) |
| Weight | 8.0 g |
| Diameter | 27.3 mm |
| Shape | Seven-sided (equilateral curve heptagon) |
| Edge | Plain |
| Portrait | Clark |
Other 2020 50p coins
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 Diversity Built Britain 50p | 10,300,000 | Face value |
| 2020 Peter Rabbit 50p | Collector issue | Small premium |
| 2020 Dinosauria 50p | Collector issue | Small premium |
| 2020 Rosalind Franklin 50p | Collector issue | Small premium |
| 2020 Winnie the Pooh 50p | Collector issue | Small premium |
| 2020 Snowman 50p | Collector issue | Small premium |
Frequently asked questions
Is the Brexit 50p rare?
No. The Royal Mint struck 10,001,000 for circulation, so it is common in change and a circulated one is a face value coin. Its appeal is as a record of the UK leaving the European Union on 31 January 2020.
Are there Brexit 50p coins with other dates?
Versions dated 29 March 2019 and 31 October 2019 were prepared, but neither was released. About a million of the October coins were struck and then melted down. Only the 31 January 2020 coin went into circulation.
Mintage figures: Fifty pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.