2021 John Logie Baird 50p
The 2021 John Logie Baird 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
- Osborne Ross
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 John Logie Baird 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 John Logie Baird 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 John Logie Baird 50p coins were made?
- None were made for circulation. The Mint sold this design only in packs and sets.
- Who designed the 2021 John Logie Baird 50p?
- The design is credited to Osborne Ross.
- What is the 2021 John Logie Baird 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 John Logie Baird 50p still legal tender?
- Yes. Every 27.3 mm 50p, including commemoratives, is legal tender in the UK.
Why the 2021 John Logie Baird 50p was made
John Logie Baird was born in Helensburgh, Scotland, in 1888 and is remembered as a television pioneer. In January 1926 he gave the first public demonstration of television, showing moving images of faces to an audience in London. In 1928 he sent television pictures across the Atlantic and demonstrated color television. His mechanical system was overtaken by electronic television in the 1930s, but his early work proved that pictures could be sent over the air. Hastings, where he carried out early experiments in the 1920s, still remembers him. He died in 1946.
The Royal Mint marked the 75th anniversary of his death with the third coin in its Innovation in Science series, following Stephen Hawking and Rosalind Franklin. It was sold only in brilliant uncirculated packs and never released for circulation. So can you find a Baird 50p in change? Occasionally, but only because someone opened a pack and spent the coin. It is legal tender at 50p, but these coins reach tills in tiny numbers compared with any circulating design.
How to recognize it
Osborne Ross designed the reverse, which presents key milestones from Baird's life between lines of transmission radiating out from the center of the coin. The effect is like a broadcast signal spreading outward, with his achievements set in the gaps. The obverse pairs Jody Clark's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II with the 2021 date. Because 2021 brought three Innovation in Science coins, check for Baird's milestones and the radiating lines: the Charles Babbage coin and the Insulin coin, which shows crystals and a chemical formula, look quite different. It is struck on the normal seven-sided cupronickel blank and weighs 8 grams.
The other side carries Jody Clark's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, introduced in 2015 and the last of her reign.
2021 John Logie Baird 50p by the numbers
No circulation mintage exists for the 2021 John Logie Baird 50p because none were released to banks. The Royal Mint's other collector-only 50p coins dated 2021 were Decimalisation, Dinosauria, 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 John Logie Baird 50p
- Confirm the design. The reverse should match the John Logie Baird 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.
As part of a five-coin series, the Baird 50p is often bought to complete a run. It had no circulation mintage, so it rarely turns up in pocket change. Left sealed, it carries a collector premium. A spent coin will usually have wear across the fine radiating lines and lettering, which leaves it near face value or a small premium. Those thin lines are also the best condition guide: crisp and continuous on a pack coin, broken or flattened on one that has spent time in purses. Look for nicks along the rim too.
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 | Osborne Ross |
| Portrait | Clark |
Other 2021 50p coins
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 Decimalisation 50p | Collector issue | Small premium |
| 2021 Dinosauria 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
Why is John Logie Baird on a 50p?
The coin marks the 75th anniversary of his death in 1946. Baird gave the first public demonstration of television in 1926. The coin is the third in the Royal Mint's Innovation in Science series.
Is the John Logie Baird 50p rare?
It is rare in change, as none were issued to banks. All were sold in brilliant uncirculated packs, so loose coins have been spent by their owners. Clean, packaged examples draw the most interest.
Mintage figures: Fifty pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.