2007 Scouting 50p
The 2007 Scouting 50p is a circulating 50p with 7.71 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2007
- Circulation mintage
- 7,710,750
- Value band
- Face value
- Designer
- Kerry Jones
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 2007 Scouting 50p worth?
7.71 million were made, so the 2007 Scouting 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 2007 Scouting 50p rare?
- No. 7.71 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2007 Scouting 50p coins were made?
- 7,710,750 were struck for circulation.
- Who designed the 2007 Scouting 50p?
- The design is credited to Kerry Jones.
- What is the 2007 Scouting 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 2007 Scouting 50p still legal tender?
- Yes. Every 27.3 mm 50p, including commemoratives, is legal tender in the UK.
Why the 2007 Scouting 50p was made
In August 1907 Robert Baden-Powell took a group of around 20 boys camping on Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour, Dorset. The experiment led to his book Scouting for Boys the following year and the movement spread with remarkable speed, first through Britain and then around the world. Today there are tens of millions of Scouts across most countries on earth and the camp on Brownsea is remembered as the start of it all. Baden-Powell was already a national hero for his defense of Mafeking during the Boer War, which helped his ideas reach a wide audience.
The centenary in 2007 brought celebrations worldwide and the Royal Mint joined in with a 50p. Kerry Jones designed it and 7,710,750 were struck for circulation. The motto on the coin, BE PREPARED, comes from Baden-Powell himself and it is often pointed out that its initials match his own. Three years later the sister movement got its own coin, the 2010 Girlguiding 50p, so the two make a natural pair in a collection. Plenty of former Scouts and Cubs have kept one from their change ever since.
How to recognize it
The Scout fleur-de-lis, the movement's emblem, is laid over a globe, a reminder of how far Scouting has spread. The emblem is the same badge Scouts still wear on their uniforms today. Around it run the motto BE PREPARED, the dates 1907 and 2007 and the denomination FIFTY PENCE. A fleur-de-lis on a globe is distinctive, so this one is hard to confuse with any other 50p. The 2010 Girlguiding coin marks the sister movement but shows trefoils in a hexagon instead. Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of the Queen is on the obverse. The coin measures 27.3 mm with a plain edge. Kerry Jones is credited with the design.
The other side carries Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, used from 1998 to 2015.
2007 Scouting 50p by the numbers
Measured by how many were made, the 2007 Scouting 50p ranks 57th lowest of 76 circulating 50p coins with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 2010 Girlguiding 50p (7.41 million); the next more common is the 2019 Sherlock Holmes 50p (8.6 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1973 EEC Hands 50p with 89.8 million, about 12 times as many. The scarcest is the 1992 Single Market 50p with 109,000, 71 times fewer than this one.
It was the only circulating commemorative 50p dated 2007. The regular Britannia reverse accounted for another 11.2 million that year.
What to check on your 2007 Scouting 50p
- Confirm the design. The reverse should match the Scouting described above and carry the date 2007; 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.
At over 7.7 million, the Scouting coin is a mid-mintage commemorative, common enough that circulated examples are face value coins. It's a well-liked design, partly because so many people were Scouts or Cubs. That steady interest means sharp examples get picked out of change quickly. The details to check are the outline of the globe and the fine edges of the fleur-de-lis, which flatten with wear. A coin kept from new has a bright, even surface; one from change usually shows scratches across the motto.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 50 pence |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2007 |
| Circulation mintage | 7,710,750 |
| Composition | Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel) |
| Weight | 8.0 g |
| Diameter | 27.3 mm |
| Shape | Seven-sided (equilateral curve heptagon) |
| Edge | Plain |
| Designer | Kerry Jones |
| Portrait | Rank-Broadley |
Frequently asked questions
What does BE PREPARED mean on the 50p?
BE PREPARED is the Scout motto, chosen by founder Robert Baden-Powell. The 2007 coin places it around the fleur-de-lis emblem and globe to mark 100 years since his first experimental camp on Brownsea Island in 1907.
Is the 2007 Scout 50p rare?
No. The Royal Mint struck 7,710,750 for circulation, a mid-range figure for a commemorative 50p. You can still find one in change and only sharp uncirculated examples are likely to draw interest from collectors.
Mintage figures: Fifty pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.