2018 Paddington at the Palace 50p
The 2018 Paddington at the Palace 50p is a circulating 50p with 5.9 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2018
- Circulation mintage
- 5,901,000
- Value band
- Face value
- Designer
- David Knapton
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 2018 Paddington at the Palace 50p worth?
5.9 million were made, so the 2018 Paddington at the Palace 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 2018 Paddington at the Palace 50p rare?
- No. 5.9 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2018 Paddington at the Palace 50p coins were made?
- 5,901,000 were struck for circulation.
- Who designed the 2018 Paddington at the Palace 50p?
- The design is credited to David Knapton.
- What is the 2018 Paddington at the Palace 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 2018 Paddington at the Palace 50p still legal tender?
- Yes. Every 27.3 mm 50p, including commemoratives, is legal tender in the UK.
Why the 2018 Paddington at the Palace 50p was made
Paddington Bear first appeared in Michael Bond's A Bear Called Paddington in 1958. He has been a national favorite ever since. The polite bear from darkest Peru, with his duffle coat, battered hat and love of marmalade, has starred in books, television series and films. Michael Bond died in 2017, a year before the bear he created made it onto British coins for the first time.
The Royal Mint released two Paddington 50ps in 2018, each showing the bear at a famous London landmark. This one puts him at Buckingham Palace, a fitting spot for a character who prides himself on his good manners. The other 2018 coin shows him at Paddington Station. Two more followed in 2019 at the Tower of London and St Paul's Cathedral, making a set of four. The Palace coin had a circulation mintage of 5,901,000, a little higher than the Station coin but well below the two 2019 releases. Paddington's appeal reaches far beyond coin collectors, so these coins brought plenty of people who never normally check their change into the hobby. For a family hunting through pocket money, the set of four is an achievable goal.
How to recognize it
David Knapton's design shows Paddington standing in front of Buckingham Palace, holding a Union Flag. The palace front fills the background behind him, which makes this coin easy to tell apart from the other three in the set: the Station coin shows him sitting indoors, the Tower coin shows him with a marmalade sandwich and the St Paul's coin shows him raising his hat. If you are sorting a pile of 50ps, the flag is the giveaway. The date reads 2018. On the obverse is Jody Clark's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. Like every modern 50p it is a seven-sided cupronickel coin, 27.3 mm across, with no color on the circulating version.
The other side carries Jody Clark's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, introduced in 2015 and the last of her reign.
2018 Paddington at the Palace 50p by the numbers
In mintage terms the 2018 Paddington at the Palace 50p ranks 49th lowest of 76 circulating 50p coins with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 2015 Battle of Britain 50p (5.9 million); the next more common is the 2016 Team GB 50p (6.4 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1973 EEC Hands 50p with 89.8 million, about 15 times as many. The scarcest is the 1992 Single Market 50p with 109,000, 54 times fewer than this one.
It was released in 2018 alongside 6 other circulating 50p designs: the Flopsy Bunny (1.4 million), the Peter Rabbit (1.4 million), the Mrs Tittlemouse (1.7 million), the The Tailor of Gloucester (3.9 million), the Paddington at the Station (5 million) and the Representation of the People Act (9 million). 5 of them had a smaller run.
Within the circulating Paddington 50p coins, it ranks 2nd scarcest, behind the Paddington at the Station.
What to check on your 2018 Paddington at the Palace 50p
- Confirm the design. The reverse should match the Paddington at the Palace described above and carry the date 2018; 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 under 6 million struck, the Palace coin is common but not as abundant as the 2019 Paddington coins, which had 9,001,000 each. A circulated example is a face value coin. Paddington coins are a favorite with children and casual collectors, so sharp examples are always in demand for sets. Check the flag and Paddington's hat for wear. A brilliant uncirculated version came in a Royal Mint presentation pack. If you have a loose coin, its surface tells you where it came from: pack coins are bright and almost flawless, while circulated ones show scuffs and a muted shine.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 50 pence |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2018 |
| Circulation mintage | 5,901,000 |
| Composition | Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel) |
| Weight | 8.0 g |
| Diameter | 27.3 mm |
| Shape | Seven-sided (equilateral curve heptagon) |
| Edge | Plain |
| Designer | David Knapton |
| Portrait | Clark |
Other 2018 50p coins
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 Representation of the People Act 50p | 9,000,000 | Face value |
| 2018 Paddington at the Station 50p | 5,001,000 | Face value |
| 2018 Tailor of Gloucester 50p | 3,900,000 | Face value |
| 2018 Mrs Tittlemouse 50p | 1,700,000 | Face value |
| 2018 Flopsy Bunny 50p | 1,400,000 | Face value |
| 2018 Peter Rabbit 50p | 1,400,000 | Face value |
| 2018 Snowman 50p | Collector issue | Small premium |
Frequently asked questions
How many Paddington at the Palace 50p coins were made?
The Royal Mint struck 5,901,000 Paddington at the Palace 50ps for circulation in 2018. That is slightly more than the Paddington at the Station coin and fewer than either of the 2019 Paddington coins.
How many Paddington 50p coins are there?
There are four circulating Paddington 50ps: Paddington at the Station and Paddington at the Palace from 2018, then Paddington at the Tower and Paddington at St Paul's from 2019. Each shows the bear at a London landmark.
Mintage figures: Fifty pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.