2020 Dinosauria 50p
The 2020 Dinosauria 50p is a Royal Mint collector issue that was never released into circulation. Value band: small premium. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2020
- Issued as
- Collector packs and sets only
- Value band
- Small premium
- Designer
- Robert Nichols
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 2020 Dinosauria 50p worth?
This design was never released into circulation. The Royal Mint sold it in brilliant uncirculated packs and annual sets, so almost every example is a collector piece. One found in change is still legal tender at 50 pence; out of its pack it brings a small premium at most, while a coin still sealed in its original packaging is what collectors want.
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 2020 Dinosauria 50p rare?
- It is scarcer than most 50p coins. It was never issued into circulation, so most examples are in collector packs.
- How many 2020 Dinosauria 50p coins were made?
- None were made for circulation. The Mint sold this design only in packs and sets.
- Who designed the 2020 Dinosauria 50p?
- The design is credited to Robert Nichols.
- What is the 2020 Dinosauria 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 2020 Dinosauria 50p still legal tender?
- Yes. Every 27.3 mm 50p, including commemoratives, is legal tender in the UK.
Why the 2020 Dinosauria 50p was made
Some of the first dinosaurs ever named were found in England. Megalosaurus was described by William Buckland in 1824 and Iguanodon by Gideon Mantell in 1825, while Mantell also described Hylaeosaurus in 1833. In 1842 the anatomist Richard Owen used these three animals to define a new group of reptiles, which he called Dinosauria, meaning terrible lizards. Owen later led the campaign for the Natural History Museum in London. Britain can fairly claim to be where the scientific study of dinosaurs began, long before the famous American finds of the later nineteenth century.
The Royal Mint's Dinosauria collection of 2020 celebrated that history with three 50p designs, one for each of Owen's founding animals. All three were sold as brilliant uncirculated coins in packs and none were sent to banks for circulation. If you find one of these dinosaur 50ps in your change, a collector or a child bought it in a pack and it was later spent. It is legal tender at 50p, yet very few slip back into circulation this way, so seeing one in a till is unusual.
How to recognize it
Robert Nichols designed all three reverses, each showing one of the animals: Megalosaurus, Iguanodon or Hylaeosaurus. He drew them in the manner of a scientific reconstruction rather than a cartoon. Turning the coin under a light brings out the texture of the skin and the shape of the jaws and claws, which helps tell the three apart at a glance. Because a second Dinosauria set followed in 2021 with marine and flying reptiles, the animal on the coin is the first thing to check. The date is on the obverse with Jody Clark's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II: 2020 means this first set. Each coin is a normal seven-sided cupronickel 50p with a plain edge and weighs 8 grams.
The other side carries Jody Clark's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, introduced in 2015 and the last of her reign.
2020 Dinosauria 50p by the numbers
No circulation mintage exists for the 2020 Dinosauria 50p because none were released to banks. The Royal Mint's other collector-only 50p coins dated 2020 were Peter Rabbit, Rosalind Franklin, Winnie the Pooh and The Snowman.
For comparison, the 50p coins that did reach change in 2020 were the Diversity Built Britain (10.3 million) and the Brexit (10 million).
What to check on your 2020 Dinosauria 50p
- Confirm the design. The reverse should match the Dinosauria described above and carry the date 2020; 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.
Many collectors aim for all three 2020 dinosaurs. Later, plenty went on to the full set of six with the 2021 coins. None had a circulation mintage, which puts them in a very different position from the commemorative 50ps released through banks. Sealed packs carry a collector premium. A single coin taken out of its pack and spent usually shows scratches across the animal and the background and may be worth face value or a small premium. On a pack coin the fine textures of the skin are sharp; on a spent coin those textures flatten quickly.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 50 pence |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2020 |
| Circulation mintage | None (collector issue) |
| Composition | Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel) |
| Weight | 8.0 g |
| Diameter | 27.3 mm |
| Shape | Seven-sided (equilateral curve heptagon) |
| Edge | Plain |
| Designer | Robert Nichols |
| Portrait | Clark |
Other 2020 50p coins
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 Diversity Built Britain 50p | 10,300,000 | Face value |
| 2020 Brexit 50p | 10,001,000 | Face value |
| 2020 Peter Rabbit 50p | Collector issue | Small premium |
| 2020 Rosalind Franklin 50p | Collector issue | Small premium |
| 2020 Winnie the Pooh 50p | Collector issue | Small premium |
| 2020 Snowman 50p | Collector issue | Small premium |
Frequently asked questions
Which dinosaurs are on the 2020 Dinosauria 50p coins?
Three: Megalosaurus, Iguanodon and Hylaeosaurus. They were the three animals Richard Owen used to define the dinosaur group in 1842, all found in England in the early nineteenth century. Each has its own coin.
Can you find the dinosaur 50p in change?
Very rarely. The 2020 Dinosauria coins were sold only in brilliant uncirculated packs and not issued to banks. A dinosaur 50p in change came out of a pack and was spent by its owner, though it remains legal tender.
Mintage figures: Fifty pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.