Paddington at the Tower 50p (2019)

Coins from circulation make up most of what is around, and wear dulls the fine detail of the bear and the tower behind him. A sharp, lightly handled coin sells for more than a tired one. A brilliant uncirculated example, still in the pack The Royal Mint sold it in, commands a higher price than any coin from change, and the silver proof and piedfort editions are valued as collector pieces in their own right. The 2019 Paddington coins were struck in larger numbers than the 2018 pair, which keeps circulated examples plentiful.

With 9,001,000 struck for circulation, the Paddington at the Tower 50p is the joint 62nd rarest of the 81 ranked 50p designs and has the joint 138th 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 Representation of the People Act 50p, with 9,000,000 struck, and the next more common is the Roger Bannister 50p, with 9,032,500 struck.

The marmalade sandwich gives it away. Paddington stands with the sandwich in his paw and the White Tower behind him, and no words appear on the design apart from the initials DK. The other 2019 coin, St Paul's, shows him raising his hat in front of the cathedral, while the 2018 coins show a railway station and Buckingham Palace. Check for 2019 on the heads side beside the Queen's portrait.

After two Paddington coins in 2018 proved popular, The Royal Mint brought the bear back for two more 50ps in 2019, still marking the 60th anniversary of Michael Bond's A Bear Called Paddington. The Tower of London design was the first of the 2019 pair, going on sale in brilliant uncirculated finish on 13 August 2019. David Knapton, who drew every coin in the set, again worked from the bear's appearance in the live-action film. Here Paddington stands in front of the White Tower holding a marmalade sandwich, his favourite snack. Knapton's initials DK are the only lettering on the tails side, and the denomination is left to the heads side, where Jody Clark's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II appears with the 2019 date. Silver proof and silver piedfort versions were sold alongside the standard coin, which was also struck for general circulation.

In the Paddington set it followed the Paddington at the Palace 50p of 2018 and was issued in 2019 together with the Paddington at St Paul's 50p.