Pride 50p (2022)

The Pride 50p went into circulation in large numbers, so a coin from change trades at face value. The colour edition is where collectors pay more: it was only sold in brilliant uncirculated packs, and a sealed pack with bright, unscratched colours is worth the most. Standard uncoloured brilliant uncirculated packs also sell above face value, and the coloured silver proof, silver piedfort and gold proof are valued as separate collector pieces.

With 5,000,000 struck for circulation, the Pride 50p is the joint 41st rarest of the 81 ranked 50p designs and has the joint 98th 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 Tailor of Gloucester 50p, with 3,900,000 struck, and the next more common is the Platinum Jubilee 50p, with 5,000,070 struck.

Five curved rainbows stacked across the coin, each with a single word on it and the number 50 above, make this one easy to spot. The words are PROTEST, UNITY, PRIDE, VISIBILITY and EQUALITY. On the circulating coin the rainbows are plain metal; the rainbow colours appear only on the collector editions, which were not issued for circulation. The heads side shows Jody Clark's fifth portrait of the Queen, and no errors are recorded.

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

• Colour edition: A colour-printed rainbow brilliant uncirculated edition sold by The Royal Mint; 33,825 were made.

The first official Pride event in the UK took place in London on 1 July 1972. For the 50th anniversary in 2022, The Royal Mint worked with Pride in London on the first UK Pride 50p. The design is by Dominique Holmes, an artist, writer and LGBTQ+ activist. Five rainbow arcs sweep across the coin, and each carries one of Pride in London's values: reading from top to bottom, PROTEST and UNITY, then PRIDE, then VISIBILITY and EQUALITY. The number 50 sits above the rainbows, and Holmes's initials DH are on the same side. Jody Clark's fifth portrait of Queen Elizabeth II is on the heads side, together with the value and date. Coins went into circulation through Post Offices, and brilliant uncirculated packs went on sale from 9 June 2022. Collectors could also buy a colour-printed rainbow edition in brilliant uncirculated quality, coloured silver proof and silver piedfort coins, and a gold proof.