1998 EU Presidency 50p
The 1998 EU Presidency 50p is a circulating 50p with 5.04 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1998
- Circulation mintage
- 5,043,000
- Value band
- Face value
- Designer
- John Mills
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 1998 EU Presidency 50p worth?
5.04 million were made, so the 1998 EU Presidency 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 or contact marks
- Original Royal Mint pack or presentation folder
- A genuine mint error, confirmed by an expert
For market prices, look at recent sold results for the same coin in the same condition, not asking prices.
Quick answers
- Is the 1998 EU Presidency 50p rare?
- No. 5.04 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 1998 EU Presidency 50p coins were made?
- 5,043,000 were struck for circulation.
- Who designed the 1998 EU Presidency 50p?
- The design is credited to John Mills.
- What is the 1998 EU Presidency 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 1998 EU Presidency 50p still legal tender?
- Yes. Every 27.3 mm 50p, including commemoratives, is legal tender in the UK.
Why the 1998 EU Presidency 50p was made
From January to June 1998 the United Kingdom held the Presidency of the European Union, taking its turn to chair the meetings of member governments. Tony Blair's government, elected the year before, held the chair for those six months. The same year marked a quarter of a century since the country had joined the European Economic Community on 1 January 1973. Rather than strike two coins, the Royal Mint combined both milestones in a single 50p. It continues a European theme that began with the 1973 hands design and carried on through the 1992 Single Market coin.
This was one of the first commemoratives in the new smaller size, which had been introduced in September 1997. It was also one of the first to carry Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of the Queen, which reached British coins in 1998. The NHS anniversary coin appeared in the same year, so 1998 put two different special 50ps into change. Just over 5 million EU Presidency coins were struck for circulation. The design came from John Mills, who had produced the 1994 D-Day coin four years earlier.
How to recognize it
A celebratory arrangement of stars surrounds the large letters EU on the reverse. The anniversary dates 1973 and 1998 sit on either side of the letters and the value 50 PENCE runs below. There are no hands, tables or buildings, just stars and lettering, which makes it a clean, simple design to recognize. Ian Rank-Broadley's effigy of the Queen in a tiara fills the obverse. The coin is the modern 27.3 mm size with a plain edge. If your European 50p is the larger size and shows a table with chairs, you have the 1992 Single Market coin instead. John Mills designed this one.
The other side carries Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, used from 1998 to 2015.
1998 EU Presidency 50p by the numbers
Measured by how many were made, the 1998 EU Presidency 50p ranks 46th lowest of 76 circulating 50p coins with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 2018 Paddington at the Station 50p (5 million); the next more common is the 2013 Benjamin Britten 50p (5.3 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1973 EEC Hands 50p with 89.8 million, about 18 times as many. The scarcest is the 1992 Single Market 50p with 109,000, 46 times fewer than this one.
1998 brought 1 other circulating 50p design: the NHS (5 million). The 1998 EU Presidency 50p was the most plentiful of the year.
What to check on your 1998 EU Presidency 50p
- Confirm the design. The reverse should match the EU Presidency described above and carry the date 1998; similar designs from other years are a common mix-up.
- Weigh it if you can: a genuine 27.3 mm 50p weighs 8.0 g. Copies are often light, slightly soft in detail or the wrong color.
- Ignore painted or colored versions sold online as special editions. Color added after the coin left the Mint does not make it a Royal Mint issue and does not add collector value.
- Look at the surfaces under a bright light. Coins straight from a pack have unbroken luster; change-worn coins show scuffs on the high points of the portrait and design.
With about 5 million made, the EU Presidency coin sits in the middle range for modern commemorative 50ps. It isn't scarce, though it surfaces less often in change than it did in the years after 1998. Circulated examples normally go at face value. A crisp, unmarked coin will interest someone building a complete run of commemoratives, who may pay a small premium. Study the points of the stars: on a worn coin they flatten out and the letters EU lose their sharp edges. Bright, unbroken luster around the stars points to a coin that never circulated.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 50 pence |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 1998 |
| Circulation mintage | 5,043,000 |
| Composition | Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel) |
| Weight | 8.0 g |
| Diameter | 27.3 mm |
| Shape | Seven-sided (equilateral curve heptagon) |
| Edge | Plain |
| Designer | John Mills |
| Portrait | Rank-Broadley |
Other 1998 50p coins
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 NHS 50p | 5,001,000 | Face value |
Frequently asked questions
Why does the EU 50p show the dates 1973 and 1998?
1973 was the year the United Kingdom joined the European Economic Community and 1998 was the 25th anniversary of that step. The coin also marks the UK's Presidency of the European Union in the first half of 1998.
Is the 1998 EU 50p still legal tender?
Yes. It is the smaller 27.3 mm size introduced in 1997 and those coins remain legal tender. You could spend one, although most people who notice the stars and the letters EU tend to keep it.
Mintage figures: Fifty pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.