The Snowman 50p (2018)
The 2018 Snowman 50p was the first Christmas 50p from The Royal Mint, marking 40 years since Raymond Briggs published The Snowman. It was sold only to collectors, so it does not turn up in ordinary change. It is the first of the eight Snowman 50p coins and one of the 172 50p designs struck since 1969.
The Snowman 50p value
- Uncirculated
- typical £16, range £11 to £21
Worked out from 8 published prices (3 dealer prices, 3 sold-price reports and 2 price guides), each condition from its own prices, checked in September 2026.
Because the 2018 Snowman 50p was never issued for circulation, each genuine coin left the Mint in collector quality, and wear rarely comes into it. Price turns on presentation and marks: coins in the original Royal Mint pack or a distributor's card sell for more than loose or capsuled coins, and marks or toning cut the price further. As the first issue of the Christmas series, it is priced above most later years. The silver and gold proofs trade as separate items.
The Snowman 50p mintage and rarity
The Snowman 50p was not issued for circulation, so it has no rarity rank.
How to spot The Snowman 50p
Check for a night-time flight: the Snowman and James hand in hand above a seaside town, a pier beneath them. Natasha Ratcliffe's initials N.R. are the only lettering on the tails side, and she designed no other coin in the series. Turn it over and the Queen's portrait is ringed by a legend ending 50 PENCE 2018. No varieties are recorded.
The Snowman 50p design
Raymond Briggs published The Snowman in 1978 as a picture book told without words, and in 2018 The Royal Mint marked its 40th anniversary with its first ever Christmas 50p. That coin started a Christmas series with a new design every year since. Natasha Ratcliffe's design, after Briggs' illustrations, shows the story's most famous scene: the Snowman holds James by the hand as the pair fly through the night sky above a snowy town by the sea, with Brighton Pier below. The tails side has no wording apart from the initials N.R., so the value, 50 PENCE, appears in the legend around Jody Clark's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on the other side. The brilliant uncirculated coin went on sale on 5 November 2018 in a Royal Mint pack, and further coins went to other distributors in tubes. The design was also struck as silver and gold proofs.
The Snowman set began with it, and The Snowman 50p followed in 2019.
The Snowman 50p specifications
- Denomination
- 50p
- Year
- 2018
- Type
- Commemorative
- Issue
- Not issued for circulation
- Series
- The Snowman
- Occasion
- 40th anniversary of Raymond Briggs' picture book The Snowman
- Designer
- Natasha Ratcliffe
- Composition
- Cupro-nickel
- Weight
- 8 g
- Diameter
- 27.3 mm
- Shape
- Seven-sided
- Edge
- Plain
- Obverse
- Elizabeth II, fifth portrait by Jody Clark
The Snowman 50p questions
Was the 2018 Snowman 50p released into circulation?
No. The Royal Mint sold it only as a brilliant uncirculated collector coin, in its own pack and through other distributors, alongside silver and gold proof versions. None were struck for everyday use.
Who designed the 2018 Snowman 50p?
Natasha Ratcliffe, whose initials N.R. are the only lettering on the tails side. Her flying scene follows Raymond Briggs' illustrations. Robin Shaw designed the series from 2020 onwards.
Is the 2018 Snowman 50p rare?
Sales of the 2018 coin were higher than for any Snowman 50p issued from 2019 to 2023, so it is one of the easier years of the series to find. It still has to be bought from collectors or dealers, since none went into circulation.