Battle of Hastings 50p (2016)

The Hastings 50p was issued into circulation in large numbers, so most coins from change sell for only a little over face value, and the best-preserved ones fetch the most. The fine lines of Harold's face, the arrows and the shield wear down quickly, so a sharp coin stands out from a rubbed one. Brilliant uncirculated coins from the 2016 packs and annual set are priced well above circulated ones, and the 2019 reissue is valued on its own as a collector-only coin.

With 6,700,000 struck for circulation, the Battle of Hastings 50p is the 53rd rarest of the 81 ranked 50p designs and has the 121st 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 Commonwealth Games Glasgow 50p, with 6,500,000 struck, and the next more common is the D-Day 50p, with 6,705,520 struck.

The tapestry-style figure of Harold, an arrow in his eye and arrows sticking out of his shield, makes this one easy to pick out. Check that BATTLE OF HASTINGS runs around the edge, that the year of the battle is divided by the figure and that 2016 sits at the bottom. A coin with 2019 on the heads side comes from the British Military set reissue, which was never put into circulation. No errors or other varieties are recorded for the circulating coin.

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

• 2019 reissue: Dated 2019 on the obverse, sold only in the 50 Years of the 50p British Military set and as a single brilliant uncirculated coin.

The Battle of Hastings was fought on 14 October between the English army of King Harold II and the forces of Duke William. Harold was killed, and William was crowned as the first Norman king, a turning point in English history. For the 950th anniversary in 2016, The Royal Mint issued a circulating 50p designed by John Bergdahl, who based his image on the Bayeux Tapestry. Harold stands in the centre drawn as the tapestry's makers might have drawn him, with an arrow in his eye and three more arrows lodged in his shield. His figure splits the year of the battle in two, the words BATTLE OF HASTINGS run around the coin, and 2016 sits beneath, with Bergdahl's initials JB on the same side. The heads side carries Jody Clark's fifth portrait of Queen Elizabeth II with 50 PENCE. In 2019 the design was struck again for the 50 Years of the 50p British Military set and as a single brilliant uncirculated coin, with 2019 on the heads side.