2022 Queen Elizabeth II Memorial 50p
The 2022 Queen Elizabeth II Memorial 50p is a circulating 50p with 9.6 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2022
- Circulation mintage
- 9,600,000
- Value band
- Face value
- Designer
- Edgar Fuller & Cecil Thomas
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 2022 Queen Elizabeth II Memorial 50p worth?
9.6 million were made, so the 2022 Queen Elizabeth II Memorial 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 2022 Queen Elizabeth II Memorial 50p rare?
- No. 9.6 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2022 Queen Elizabeth II Memorial 50p coins were made?
- 9,600,000 were struck for circulation.
- Who designed the 2022 Queen Elizabeth II Memorial 50p?
- The design is credited to Edgar Fuller & Cecil Thomas.
- What is the 2022 Queen Elizabeth II Memorial 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 2022 Queen Elizabeth II Memorial 50p still legal tender?
- Yes. Every 27.3 mm 50p, including commemoratives, is legal tender in the UK.
Why the 2022 Queen Elizabeth II Memorial 50p was made
Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral on 8 September 2022, after 70 years on the throne. Her son became King Charles III. For the Royal Mint, that meant putting a new monarch on British coins for the first time in seven decades. It chose to begin with a coin honoring the late Queen. This 50p became the first circulating British coin to carry the King's portrait. It reached change in late 2022, only a few months after her death.
The memorial coin had a circulation mintage of 9,600,000, one of the larger runs among recent commemorative 50ps. Its arrival was a historic moment: for the first time in most people's lives, they found a king rather than a queen on their coins. The two portraits now circulate side by side. Coins showing Elizabeth II remain legal tender alongside those showing Charles III. They will be replaced only gradually as they wear out. This coin is the one that marks the handover. It also links two reigns in a single piece of metal, because the reverse looks back to the Queen's coronation while the obverse looks forward to her son.
How to recognize it
The reverse reuses the design from the 1953 Coronation crown by Edgar Fuller and Cecil Thomas. It shows a crown at the center, surrounded by four shields bearing the arms of England, Scotland and Ireland, with a thistle, rose, leek and shamrock placed between them. The reverse has no new artwork at all, which makes it unusual among modern 50ps. The obverse carries Martin Jennings's portrait of King Charles III, uncrowned and facing left, the opposite way to Queen Elizabeth II on her coins. That portrait is the quickest way to tell this coin from other 50ps of 2022. The coin is the standard 27.3 mm seven-sided cupronickel 50p.
The other side carries Martin Jennings' portrait of King Charles III, first used in 2022.
2022 Queen Elizabeth II Memorial 50p by the numbers
By the numbers, the 2022 Queen Elizabeth II Memorial 50p ranks 65th lowest of 76 circulating 50p coins with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 2017 Tom Kitten 50p (9.5 million); the next more common is the 2016 Peter Rabbit 50p (9.7 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1973 EEC Hands 50p with 89.8 million, about 9.4 times as many. The scarcest is the 1992 Single Market 50p with 109,000, 88 times fewer than this one.
It shared 2022 with 2 other circulating 50p designs: the Pride (5 million) and the Platinum Jubilee (5 million). The 2022 Queen Elizabeth II Memorial 50p was the most plentiful of the year.
What to check on your 2022 Queen Elizabeth II Memorial 50p
- Confirm the design. The reverse should match the Queen Elizabeth II Memorial described above and carry the date 2022; 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 9,600,000 struck for circulation, the memorial 50p is common. Any circulated one is a face value coin. Its importance is historical: it is the first King Charles III coin many people ever saw. A clean coin with a sharp crown and crisp shield detail is a good keepsake. The Royal Mint also sold the design in brilliant uncirculated packs as part of its memorial range. Pack coins look bright and untouched, while coins from change carry rubbing and small scratches. Make sure you have the Charles III obverse; the reverse alone is a 1953 design.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 50 pence |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2022 |
| Circulation mintage | 9,600,000 |
| Composition | Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel) |
| Weight | 8.0 g |
| Diameter | 27.3 mm |
| Shape | Seven-sided (equilateral curve heptagon) |
| Edge | Plain |
| Designer | Edgar Fuller & Cecil Thomas |
| Portrait | Jennings |
Other 2022 50p coins
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 Platinum Jubilee 50p | 5,000,070 | Face value |
| 2022 Pride 50p | 5,000,000 | Face value |
| 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games 50p | Collector issue | Small premium |
| 2022 Winnie the Pooh: Eeyore 50p | Collector issue | Small premium |
| 2022 Winnie the Pooh: Kanga and Roo 50p | Collector issue | Small premium |
| 2022 BBC Centenary 50p | Collector issue | Small premium |
Frequently asked questions
Was the Queen Elizabeth memorial 50p the first King Charles coin?
It was. This was the first British circulating coin to show Martin Jennings's portrait of King Charles III. The reverse honors Queen Elizabeth II with a design taken from her 1953 Coronation crown.
Who designed the Queen Elizabeth memorial 50p?
The reverse is the 1953 Coronation crown design by Edgar Fuller and Cecil Thomas, adapted for the 50p. The obverse portrait of King Charles III, the first to appear on circulating coins, is by Martin Jennings.
Mintage figures: Fifty pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.