Battle of Britain 50p (2015)

Circulating coins with the fifth portrait came out in large numbers and sell for a modest premium over face value, with the sharpest examples at the top of the range. The version matters more than anything else. The fourth-portrait coin without a denomination was only sold to collectors, as was the 2019 reissue, so both are worth more than a coin from change, especially in their original packaging.

With 5,900,000 struck for circulation, the Battle of Britain 50p is the 49th rarest of the 81 ranked 50p designs and has the 115th lowest mintage of all 194 circulating UK designs. That puts it in the Uncommon band, for mintages 2,500,000 to 9,999,999.

The next rarer 50p is the Benjamin Britten 50p, with 5,300,000 struck, and the next more common is the Paddington at the Palace 50p, with 5,901,000 struck.

Three airmen running towards their planes, with aircraft in the sky above, identify the design straight away, and the lettering reads THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN, GB and 1940. Then turn the coin over. The circulating version has Jody Clark's fifth portrait with 50 PENCE and 2015 on the heads side. If you see the older fourth portrait and no value at all, it is the collector version from the 2015 sets, and a 2019 date means the military set reissue. Neither was issued for circulation.

Known varieties of the Battle of Britain 50p, all listed among the UK error coins and varieties:

• Fourth portrait, no denomination: The 2015 brilliant uncirculated and proof annual-set coins carry Ian Rank-Broadley's fourth portrait and have no denomination anywhere on the coin; not issued for circulation.
• 2019 reissue: Dated 2019 with the fifth portrait, sold only in the 50 Years of the 50p British Military set and as a single brilliant uncirculated coin.

Through the summer of 1940 the Royal Air Force fought off the German Luftwaffe over Britain, in a battle that took its name from a Winston Churchill speech declaring the Battle of France over and the Battle of Britain about to begin. The Royal Mint marked the 75th anniversary in 2015 with a 50p designed by Gary Breeze. His reverse shows three airmen scrambling towards their aircraft while more planes fill the sky overhead, with the lettering THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN, GB and 1940. There is no denomination in the design, and that led to a coin with several versions. The first brilliant uncirculated coins, sold in the 2015 annual sets and packs, paired it with Ian Rank-Broadley's fourth portrait of the Queen and carried no value anywhere. Later in 2015 the circulating coin was struck with Jody Clark's new fifth portrait, and 50 PENCE was added to the heads side. In 2019 the design returned, dated 2019, in the 50 Years of the 50p British Military set and as a single brilliant uncirculated coin.