Scouts 50p (2007)

Circulated Be Prepared 50ps are worth face value, since the coin was struck in large numbers for circulation. Value comes from the collector versions: the brilliant uncirculated coin in its Royal Mint pack, then the silver proof, the silver proof piedfort and the gold proof, all made in far smaller numbers. The 2019 reissue is a separate set coin with its own price, and a pack or case kept intact is worth more than a loose coin taken out of it.

With 7,710,750 struck for circulation, the Scouts 50p is the 58th rarest of the 81 ranked 50p designs and has the 130th 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 Girlguiding 50p, with 7,410,090 struck, and the next more common is the Sherlock Holmes 50p, with 8,602,000 struck.

The Scout badge over a globe, with BE PREPARED beneath it, makes this coin easy to pick out. Check for the dates 1907 and 2007 on the left and right edges, either side of the badge. It is the modern small size, and the circulation coin has Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait on the heads side. A coin with the same reverse but Jody Clark's portrait and a 2019 date came from a 50 Years of the 50p set and was never issued for change.

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

• 2019 reissue: Struck again dated 2019 with the fifth portrait for the brilliant uncirculated 50 Years of the 50p sets. Not issued for circulation.
• 2009 anniversary set reissue: Struck again dated 2009, with Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait, for the 16-coin set issued in October 2009 to mark 40 years of the 50p, in cupro-nickel and as silver proof, gold proof and gold piedfort. Not issued for circulation.

The Scout movement began in August 1907, when Robert Baden-Powell took twenty boys to an experimental camp on Brownsea Island, near Poole in Dorset, for eight days of games and outdoor activities meant to teach practical skills and resourcefulness. Baden-Powell gave the movement its motto, Be Prepared. For the centenary in 2007 the Royal Mint chose a design by Kerry Jones built entirely from Scouting's own symbols. The fleur-de-lis, the arrowhead badge of the Scouts, stands in the centre of the coin, laid over a globe. FIFTY PENCE runs across the top, 1907 and 2007 sit on the left and right edges either side of the badge, and BE PREPARED runs along the bottom, with small stars between them. Jones's initial K is also on this side. Circulation coins carry Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of the Queen. The same reverse returned in 2019, paired with Jody Clark's portrait, for the 50 Years of the 50p sets.