2021 Dinosauria 50p
The 2021 Dinosauria 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
- 2021
- Issued as
- Collector packs and sets only
- Value band
- Small premium
- Designer
- Robert Nichols
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 2021 Dinosauria 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 2021 Dinosauria 50p rare?
- It is scarcer than most 50p coins. It was never issued into circulation, so most examples are in collector packs.
- How many 2021 Dinosauria 50p coins were made?
- None were made for circulation. The Mint sold this design only in packs and sets.
- Who designed the 2021 Dinosauria 50p?
- The design is credited to Robert Nichols.
- What is the 2021 Dinosauria 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 2021 Dinosauria 50p still legal tender?
- Yes. Every 27.3 mm 50p, including commemoratives, is legal tender in the UK.
Why the 2021 Dinosauria 50p was made
The second Dinosauria collection turned to the fossil hunter Mary Anning and the Jurassic coast of Dorset. Working the cliffs around Lyme Regis in the early nineteenth century, Anning and her family found remarkable marine reptiles and flying reptiles that changed how scientists understood ancient life. The three animals on these coins, Temnodontosaurus, Plesiosaurus and Dimorphodon, are all linked with her finds. Strictly speaking none of them is a dinosaur: two are marine reptiles and one is a pterosaur. Anning had little formal schooling and received scant credit in her lifetime, which makes the coins a belated tribute. They lived in the age of the dinosaurs, which was close enough for the collection.
The Royal Mint followed its 2020 set with these three further designs in 2021, again sold only as brilliant uncirculated coins in packs and kept out of general circulation. A 2021 Dinosauria 50p in your change has come out of a pack and been spent. It is legal tender at 50p and will be accepted in shops, but because it was never handed out through banks, it is a coin most people never come across by chance.
How to recognize it
Robert Nichols designed all three reverses, as he did for the 2020 set. Each shows one prehistoric animal: Temnodontosaurus, an ichthyosaur with long jaws; Plesiosaurus, with its long neck and paddles; and Dimorphodon, a flying reptile with a large head. Check the date beside Jody Clark's portrait of the queen, which reads 2021 on this set. To tell it from the 2020 coins, look at the animal: a land-living Megalosaurus, Iguanodon or Hylaeosaurus means the earlier set. The skin, fins and wing membranes are finely textured, so wear on a spent coin is easy to spot when you tilt it toward the light. All are struck on the normal seven-sided cupronickel blank.
The other side carries Jody Clark's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, introduced in 2015 and the last of her reign.
2021 Dinosauria 50p by the numbers
No circulation mintage exists for the 2021 Dinosauria 50p because none were released to banks. The Royal Mint's other collector-only 50p coins dated 2021 were John Logie Baird, Decimalisation, Team GB, Winnie the Pooh and Friends, Charles Babbage, Winnie the Pooh: Owl, Insulin, The Snowman and Winnie the Pooh: Tigger.
No commemorative 50p dated 2021 was released for circulation, which is why so many people hunting change for new designs never see this one.
What to check on your 2021 Dinosauria 50p
- Confirm the design. The reverse should match the Dinosauria described above and carry the date 2021; 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.
Collectors who bought the 2020 trio usually add these three to complete the six-coin collection. Children who started with one dinosaur often end up wanting the lot. None had a circulation mintage, so loose ones only appear after a pack has been opened and spent. Unopened packs are where the collector premium lies. A coin from change usually shows rubbing over the animal's body and scratches in the background, leaving it around face value or a small premium. On a pack coin the textures of skin and wings are crisp and the field shines evenly; on a spent coin those textures soften quickly.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 50 pence |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2021 |
| 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 | Robert Nichols |
| Portrait | Clark |
Other 2021 50p coins
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 John Logie Baird 50p | Collector issue | Small premium |
| 2021 Decimalisation 50p | Collector issue | Small premium |
| 2021 Team GB 50p | Collector issue | Small premium |
| 2021 Winnie the Pooh and Friends 50p | Collector issue | Small premium |
| 2021 Charles Babbage 50p | Collector issue | Small premium |
| 2021 Winnie the Pooh: Owl 50p | Collector issue | Small premium |
| 2021 Insulin 50p | Collector issue | Small premium |
| 2021 Snowman 50p | Collector issue | Small premium |
| 2021 Winnie the Pooh: Tigger 50p | Collector issue | Small premium |
Frequently asked questions
Which animals are on the 2021 Dinosauria 50p coins?
Temnodontosaurus, Plesiosaurus and Dimorphodon, all designed by Robert Nichols. They are linked with Mary Anning's fossil finds on the Dorset coast, although technically none is a dinosaur. All three are dated 2021.
How many Dinosauria 50p coins are there?
Six in total: three in 2020 (Megalosaurus, Iguanodon, Hylaeosaurus) and three in 2021 (Temnodontosaurus, Plesiosaurus, Dimorphodon). All were sold only in packs and never released into circulation, so loose ones are rare.
Mintage figures: Fifty pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.