Queen Elizabeth II Memorial 50p (2022)

The memorial 50p went into circulation in large numbers, so a coin from change now trades at face value, although demand ran high when it first appeared as the first coin with the King's portrait. Condition decides the rest: a bright coin with sharp detail in the shields and emblems is the one to keep. Brilliant uncirculated packs sell above face value, and the precious metal proofs and piedforts are collector pieces valued on their own.

With 9,600,000 struck for circulation, the Queen Elizabeth II Memorial 50p is the 66th rarest of the 81 ranked 50p designs and has the 143rd 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 Tom Kitten 50p, with 9,500,000 struck, and the next more common is the Peter Rabbit 50p, with 9,700,000 struck.

Two things identify it. The tails side shows a crown at the centre surrounded by four shields in a cross, with a rose, thistle, shamrock and leek between them and the date 2022 split below. The heads side shows King Charles III facing left, with CHARLES III in the legend, even though the coin is dated 2022 and honours the Queen. Any 50p pairing this crown-and-shields design with the King's portrait is the memorial coin, and no varieties are recorded.

The Royal Mint's memorial collection for Queen Elizabeth II, released on 3 October 2022, included a circulating 50p that looks back to the start of her reign. Its reverse is the design made for the crown coin struck for her coronation in 1953, drawn by the herald painter Edgar Fuller and modelled by Cecil Thomas. A crown sits at the centre, and four shields form a cross around it, bearing the quartered arms of England, Scotland and Ireland, with a rose, a thistle, a shamrock and a leek set in the angles between them. The date 2022 is divided below, and the initials EF and CT appear on the same side. The heads side carries the first coinage portrait of King Charles III, by the sculptor Martin Jennings and personally approved by the King. Following tradition, he faces left, the opposite way to his mother, and the legend reads CHARLES III D G REX F D 50 PENCE. Alongside the circulation coin, the design was sold in brilliant uncirculated quality and as silver, gold and platinum proofs, with silver and gold piedforts.