1997 Small Britannia 50p Coin
The 1997 Small Britannia 50p is a 50p coin struck for circulation with 456.4 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1997
- Circulation mintage
- 456,364,100
- 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 1997 Small Britannia 50p worth?
456.4 million were made, so the 1997 Small Britannia 50p is easy to find. A circulated one is worth face value; collectors pay a little more only for uncirculated coins and coins still in their original Royal Mint pack.
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 1997 Small Britannia 50p rare?
- No. 456.4 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 1997 Small 50p coins were made?
- 456,364,100 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 1997 Small Britannia 50p made of?
- Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel). It weighs 8.0 g and measures 27.3 mm, with a seven-sided (equilateral curve heptagon) shape.
- Is the 1997 Small Britannia 50p still legal tender?
- Yes. Every 27.3 mm 50p is legal tender in the UK.
The 1997 50p coin in context
The smaller 50p arrived in September 1997 and the Royal Mint struck 456,364,100 of them for circulation, the largest figure for any regular 50p date. That enormous run had one job: to replace every large 50p in the country in a matter of months. The old 30 mm coins ceased to be legal tender at the end of February 1998, so the new size had to be in tills and pockets before then. Banks swapped old for new as coins came in, so the large ones disappeared from circulation quickly.
The change was a response to years of complaints that the large coin was heavy and awkward. The new 50p was lighter and easier to carry while keeping the seven sides and the same Britannia design, so nobody had to learn a new coin. Because so many were made at once, the small 1997 is one of the most common 50ps you will find, still turning up in change decades later. The smaller coin also used less metal, which helped keep production costs down.
How to recognize it
Christopher Ironside's Britannia carries straight over from the large coin, scaled down. She sits with her lion, trident and olive branch and her Union Flag shield, under FIFTY PENCE with the numeral 50 below. The obverse carries Maklouf's diademed portrait of the Queen, which had been in use since 1985. The new coin is cupronickel, 27.3 mm across and 8 g, against 30 mm and 13.5 g for the old one. Maklouf's portrait identifies it as 1997, since the next year brought a new portrait. The design was reduced carefully so it looks the same at a glance, just smaller. The edge stays plain.
The other side carries Raphael Maklouf's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, used from 1985 to 1997.
1997 Small Britannia 50p by the numbers
Measured by how many were made, the 1997 Small Britannia 50p is the most common of 34 50p dates and varieties from 1969 to 2023. The next scarcer is the 1969 Britannia 50p (188.4 million).
Compared with the dates around it, the 1997 output was 669 times the 1985 figure and 7.1 times the 1998 figure.
Over the 1990s the Mint produced 545.6 million regular 50p coins across 10 dates and varieties; the 1997 Small Britannia 50p accounts for 84% of that.
What to check on your 1997 Small Britannia 50p
- Confirm the date and the variety (small). 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 27.3 mm coin introduced in 1997, which weighs 8.0 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.
With more than 456 million made, a small 1997 is a face value coin and still legal tender. It is worth having as the first small 50p in a date run, especially paired with a large 1997 from a set. Look for a coin with full detail on Britannia, which can be hard after decades in use. Bright uncirculated examples usually come from Royal Mint annual sets. It is also the only small 50p with Maklouf's portrait, since Rank-Broadley's arrived the next year. That makes it easy to spot in a pile of later coins.
Maklouf portrait and the end of the large 50p (1985 to 1997)
Raphael Maklouf's portrait arrived on all British coins in 1985, showing the Queen wearing the George IV State Diadem, with his initials RDM under the bust. The reverse stayed the same: Ironside's seated Britannia with FIFTY PENCE above and the numeral 50 below, on the same 30 mm, 13.5 g cupronickel coin. What changed was demand. The country already held enormous numbers of large 50ps from the 1970s and early 1980s, so the Royal Mint struck very few new ones for change in these years.
In fact 1985 is the only date of this era with large 50ps made for circulation. Only 682,103 were struck. Every other large date from 1986 to 1993, plus 1995, 1996 and the large 1997, came only in collector sets. The year 1994 went to the D-Day commemorative design instead. The large coin had long drawn complaints for being heavy and bulky. In September 1997 the Royal Mint replaced it with a smaller version, 27.3 mm across and 8 g, with the same seven sides and the same Britannia. A huge run of the small coin replaced the old ones in a matter of months.
The large 50p ceased to be legal tender at the end of February 1998, so Maklouf large coins can only be kept, not spent. Small 1997 coins are still legal tender and turn up in change today. Measure before you do anything else: 30 mm means a large coin, 27.3 mm a small one. Large Maklouf coins found loose in old jars almost always started life in a broken set, since so few of them were ever paid out by banks.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 50 pence |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 1997 |
| Circulation mintage | 456,364,100 |
| Composition | Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel) |
| Weight | 8.0 g |
| Diameter | 27.3 mm |
| Shape | Seven-sided (equilateral curve heptagon) |
| Edge | Plain |
| Portrait | Maklouf |
Other 1997 50p coins
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 Large Britannia 50p Coin | Collector issue | Small premium |
Frequently asked questions
Why was the 50p made smaller in 1997?
The original 30 mm coin was widely seen as too heavy and bulky. The new 27.3 mm coin weighed 8 g instead of 13.5 g. It kept the seven-sided shape and Britannia so it stayed familiar.
Is a small 1997 50p rare?
No. The Royal Mint struck 456,364,100 for circulation, the largest figure for any 50p date. It is a face value coin. Only the large 1997, made just for collector sets, carries a premium.
Mintage figures: Fifty pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.