1970 Britannia 50p Coin
The 1970 Britannia 50p is a 50p coin struck for circulation with 19.5 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1970
- Circulation mintage
- 19,461,500
- Value band
- Face value
- Composition
- Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel)
Original illustration of the coin's shape and metal. Tap to flip. Not a picture of the actual design.
Face value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is a 1970 Britannia 50p worth?
19.5 million were made, so the 1970 Britannia 50p is common. It is the original large size, which is no longer legal tender, so a worn one has no spending value; collectors only want uncirculated examples and the scarcer dates.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with no scratches
- A sets-only date or a low circulation year
- A genuine mint error
For market prices, look at recent sold results for the same coin in the same condition, not asking prices.
Quick answers
- Is the 1970 Britannia 50p rare?
- No. 19.5 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 1970 50p coins were made?
- 19,461,500 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 1970 Britannia 50p made of?
- Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel). It weighs 13.5 g and measures 30 mm, with a seven-sided (equilateral curve heptagon) shape.
- Is the 1970 Britannia 50p still legal tender?
- No. The original 30 mm 50p stopped being legal tender in 1998, after the smaller coin arrived in 1997.
The 1970 50p coin in context
After the giant launch order of 1969, the Royal Mint barely needed to strike 50ps dated 1970. The figure fell to 19,461,500, roughly a tenth of the first year. Banks still held plenty of 1969 coins. The 50p was the only decimal coin above 10p and the first year's huge order had already done most of the work of replacing the ten shilling note, so a modest top-up was enough. Most of the 1970 coins went straight into tills beside the first-year coins, quietly topping up the supply.
The date matters for another reason. No Britannia 50ps were struck for circulation from 1971 to 1975, so for years the 1969 and 1970 coins did all the work. When Decimal Day arrived on 15 February 1971, every 50p paid out in change carried one of those two dates. The 1970 coins saw heavy use through the inflation of the 1970s, which is why sharp ones are much harder to find than the mintage alone suggests. The 1970 is also the last circulation date before that five-year pause.
How to recognize it
Nothing on the coin changed from the year before. Ironside's Britannia sits with her lion, trident and olive branch, the Union Flag shield at her side, under the words NEW PENCE with the numeral 50 beneath. The obverse carries Machin's portrait of a young Queen in a tiara. Like every early 50p it is cupronickel, 30 mm across and 13.5 g, with a plain edge. Put a 1969 and a 1970 side by side and only the date tells them apart. The large size is the main clue that you have an early coin. It is wider than a modern 2p and far heavier than today's 50p.
The other side carries Arnold Machin's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, used on UK coins from 1968 to 1984.
1970 Britannia 50p by the numbers
By the numbers, the 1970 Britannia 50p ranks 8th lowest of 34 50p dates and varieties from 1969 to 2023. The next scarcer is the 2007 Britannia 50p (11.2 million); the next more common is the 2015 Rank-Broadley Portrait Royal Shield 50p (20.1 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1997 Small Britannia 50p with 456.4 million, about 23 times as many. The scarcest is the 2023 Atlantic Salmon 50p with 200,000, 97 times fewer than this one.
Compared with the dates around it, the 1970 output was 9.7 times fewer than 1969 and 2.2 times fewer than 1976.
Over the 1970s the Mint produced 243.4 million regular 50p coins across 9 dates and varieties; the 1970 Britannia 50p accounts for 8.0% of that.
What to check on your 1970 Britannia 50p
- Confirm the date. Most dates are common, so the date and any variety decide whether a coin is worth setting aside.
- Check the size: this date is the original 30 mm coin, which weighs 13.5 g, with seven curved sides.
- Look at the surfaces under a light. Coins from sets have unbroken luster and color; change-worn coins are dull and scuffed.
- Never clean it. Rubbing or dipping strips the original color and leaves fine scratches.
At under 20 million, the 1970 is one of the lower circulation figures among the early large 50ps. It is still easy enough to find worn, because so many passed through tills for years. Condition is the real hunt. Look for a clean face on Britannia and unbroken lettering. Worn coins are face value pieces, while a bright, uncirculated 1970 can draw a small premium from collectors filling a date run. Watch for rim knocks, since these heavy coins took hard hits when dropped or tipped from bags. Keep it with a 1969 and you have both dates that were in change on Decimal Day.
Large Britannia 50p with the Machin portrait (1969 to 1984)
The 50p went into circulation on 14 October 1969, well over a year before Decimal Day, as the replacement for the ten shilling note. Fifty new pence equaled ten shillings exactly, so the coin could be spent alongside the old money from its first morning. Notes of that value wore out fast in daily use, while a coin could last for decades. The shape was the talking point. This was the first seven-sided coin, with every side gently curved so the coin measures the same distance across from any edge. That constant width lets it work in machines like a round coin.
Christopher Ironside's reverse shows Britannia seated beside a lion, holding a trident and an olive branch, with a shield bearing the Union Flag at her side. NEW PENCE runs above her and a large 50 sits below. In 1982 the wording changed to FIFTY PENCE when the word NEW was dropped from every British coin. Arnold Machin's portrait of the Queen in a tiara is on the obverse for the whole period. These are big, heavy coins: cupronickel, 30 mm across and 13.5 g.
The run has gaps that surprise people. The giant 1969 launch left banks so well stocked that no Britannia 50ps were struck for circulation in 1971, 1972, 1974 or 1975. The year 1973 went to the commemorative hands design marking entry to the European Economic Community. The 1984 date was made only for collector sets too. The large 50p stopped being legal tender at the end of February 1998, so every coin from this era is now a keepsake rather than spendable money. Condition matters more than date on most of them. Look for crisp hair on Britannia, a clear lion's mane and fields free of heavy scratches.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 50 pence |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 1970 |
| Circulation mintage | 19,461,500 |
| Composition | Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel) |
| Weight | 13.5 g |
| Diameter | 30 mm |
| Shape | Seven-sided (equilateral curve heptagon) |
| Edge | Plain |
| Portrait | Machin |
Frequently asked questions
Why were so few 50ps made in 1970?
The 1969 launch produced 188,400,000 coins, far more than the country needed at once. With banks well stocked, the Royal Mint struck only 19,461,500 dated 1970 and then none for circulation from 1971 to 1975.
Is a 1970 50p scarcer than a 1969?
Yes, by mintage. About a tenth as many were made and they circulated hard for years. Even so, worn coins are not rare. A sharp example is the harder find. Only those draw a small premium.
Mintage figures: Fifty pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.