2006 Victoria Cross Heroic Acts 50p
The 2006 Victoria Cross Heroic Acts 50p is a circulating 50p with 10 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2006
- Circulation mintage
- 10,000,500
- Value band
- Face value
- Designer
- Clive Duncan
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 2006 Victoria Cross Heroic Acts 50p worth?
10 million were made, so the 2006 Victoria Cross Heroic Acts 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 2006 Victoria Cross Heroic Acts 50p rare?
- No. 10 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2006 Victoria Cross Heroic Acts 50p coins were made?
- 10,000,500 were struck for circulation.
- Who designed the 2006 Victoria Cross Heroic Acts 50p?
- The design is credited to Clive Duncan.
- What is the 2006 Victoria Cross Heroic Acts 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 2006 Victoria Cross Heroic Acts 50p still legal tender?
- Yes. Every 27.3 mm 50p, including commemoratives, is legal tender in the UK.
Why the 2006 Victoria Cross Heroic Acts 50p was made
Since the Crimean War the Victoria Cross has been awarded for courage in the face of the enemy and over the years many of the citations have described men going back under fire to rescue the wounded. The second of the two 50ps issued for the award's 150th anniversary in 2006 celebrates that kind of bravery rather than the medal itself. Its companion coin, by Claire Aldridge, shows the cross from the front and the back.
Clive Duncan designed this reverse. A little over 10 million were struck for circulation, slightly fewer than the medal design and the two were released in the same year, so for a while both were common in change. The image of one soldier carrying another is a familiar symbol of courage and comradeship and it reads well even at the small scale of a coin. The design brings the anniversary down to a human level: the medal coin shows the award and this one shows what it was given for. Seen side by side, the two tell the whole story.
How to recognize it
A soldier carries a wounded comrade across the reverse, set in front of the outline of a Victoria Cross. Behind both, a sunburst of rays spreads out toward the rim. That combination, the carried soldier and the cross outline with its rays, tells you which of the two 2006 coins you hold. The other side bears Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of the Queen with the year 2006. The coin is the 27.3 mm size, with a smooth edge. If your Victoria Cross 50p shows the medal on its own, front and back, you have the Claire Aldridge design instead. Clive Duncan is the designer of this one.
The other side carries Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, used from 1998 to 2015.
2006 Victoria Cross Heroic Acts 50p by the numbers
In mintage terms the 2006 Victoria Cross Heroic Acts 50p ranks 68th lowest of 76 circulating 50p coins with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 2017 Mr Jeremy Fisher 50p (9.9 million); the next more common is the 2020 Brexit 50p (10 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1973 EEC Hands 50p with 89.8 million, about 9 times as many. The scarcest is the 1992 Single Market 50p with 109,000, 92 times fewer than this one.
It was released in 2006 alongside 1 other circulating 50p design: the Victoria Cross (12.1 million). The 2006 Victoria Cross Heroic Acts 50p was the scarcest of the year.
What to check on your 2006 Victoria Cross Heroic Acts 50p
- Confirm the design. The reverse should match the Victoria Cross Heroic Acts described above and carry the date 2006; 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 just over 10 million made, this design is common and circulated examples sit at face value. It is a natural partner to the medal coin and many people keep the two side by side. The figures are small and stand high, so they wear quickly: on a heavily used coin the soldiers become a vague shape and the rays fade into the field. Pick the sharpest one you can find, ideally with clear outlines on both figures and crisp lines in the sunburst. A coin that never circulated shows no contact marks at all.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 50 pence |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2006 |
| Circulation mintage | 10,000,500 |
| Composition | Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel) |
| Weight | 8.0 g |
| Diameter | 27.3 mm |
| Shape | Seven-sided (equilateral curve heptagon) |
| Edge | Plain |
| Designer | Clive Duncan |
| Portrait | Rank-Broadley |
Other 2006 50p coins
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 Victoria Cross 50p | 12,087,000 | Face value |
Frequently asked questions
How many Victoria Cross Heroic Acts 50p coins were made?
The Royal Mint struck 10,000,500 for circulation in 2006, slightly fewer than the companion medal design. Both are common, so a circulated example is a face value coin and the main interest lies in finding a sharp one.
Who designed the Heroic Acts 50p?
Clive Duncan designed it. His reverse shows one soldier carrying a wounded comrade in front of a Victoria Cross outline and a sunburst, a contrast with Claire Aldridge's design of the medal itself issued in the same year.
Mintage figures: Fifty pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.