2003 Britannia 50p Coin

Quick answers

Is the 2003 Britannia 50p rare?

No. 23.6 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.

How many 2003 50p coins were made?

23,583,000 were struck for circulation.

What is the 2003 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 2003 Britannia 50p still legal tender?

Yes. Every 27.3 mm 50p is legal tender in the UK.

How to recognize it

The other side carries Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, used from 1998 to 2015.

The 2003 Britannia 50p is seven-sided (equilateral curve heptagon), 27.3 mm across and cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel).

2003 Britannia 50p by the numbers

By the numbers, the 2003 Britannia 50p ranks 11th lowest of 34 50p dates and varieties from 1969 to 2023. The next scarcer is the 2008 Royal Shield 50p (22.7 million); the next more common is the 2002 Britannia 50p (23.9 million).

For scale, the most common is the 1997 Small Britannia 50p with 456.4 million, about 19 times as many. The scarcest is the 2023 Atlantic Salmon 50p with 200,000, 118 times fewer than this one.

Compared with the dates around it, the 2003 output was about the same as 2002 and 1.5 times fewer than 2004.

Over the 2000s the Mint produced 283.1 million regular 50p coins across 11 dates and varieties; the 2003 Britannia 50p accounts for 8.3% of that.

What to check on your 2003 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 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.

Small Britannia 50p with the Rank-Broadley portrait (1998 to 2007)

Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait replaced Maklouf's in 1998, showing the Queen in a tiara with the initials IRB beneath the bust. It became the third portrait to appear on the 50p and sits on every coin of this era. The coin itself was the small 50p introduced in September 1997: cupronickel, 27.3 mm across, 8 g and seven-sided, with Christopher Ironside's seated Britannia and FIFTY PENCE on the reverse. All of these coins are still legal tender, so they remain in everyday use.

This was also the decade when commemorative 50ps became a regular sight. The Royal Mint used the denomination to mark the NHS, public libraries, the suffragettes, the four-minute mile, Johnson's dictionary, the Victoria Cross and the centenary of Scouting. Those designs took some of the demand for new 50ps, which helps explain why the Britannia figures stay modest after 1998. Most years landed somewhere between 23 and 36 million, with 1998 and 2001 well above that and 2007 the lowest of the era.

For anyone sorting change, these are the Britannia coins most likely to turn up. Worn examples are face value. Wear shows first on Britannia's knee, her helmet and the lion's head, so those spots tell you quickly whether a coin spent years in pockets. The low 2007 date and the final Britannia dated 2008 are the ones to keep an eye on, since the old design was about to disappear. Bright coins with full luster usually come from Royal Mint annual sets rather than from the bank.

Mintage chart

Specifications