2020 Peter Rabbit 50p
The 2020 Peter Rabbit 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
- Emma Noble
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 Peter Rabbit 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 Peter Rabbit 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 Peter Rabbit 50p coins were made?
- None were made for circulation. The Mint sold this design only in packs and sets.
- Who designed the 2020 Peter Rabbit 50p?
- The design is credited to Emma Noble.
- What is the 2020 Peter Rabbit 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 Peter Rabbit 50p still legal tender?
- Yes. Every 27.3 mm 50p, including commemoratives, is legal tender in the UK.
Why the 2020 Peter Rabbit 50p was made
Beatrix Potter first told the story of Peter Rabbit in a picture letter to a sick child before publishing it as a book in 1902. The most famous moments take place in Mr. McGregor's garden, where Peter eats lettuces and radishes, is chased round the vegetable beds and finally escapes by squeezing under the gate. Potter went on to write more than 20 small books about animals and the countryside she loved.
The Royal Mint's 2020 Peter Rabbit 50p picked up that escape. It was the follow-up to the 2019 collector coin and, like it, was sold only in brilliant uncirculated packs rather than released to banks. Find one at the bottom of a purse and you are looking at a pack coin that has been opened and spent. It is legal tender at 50p, so nothing stops it being passed around, but compared with the Potter 50ps of 2016 to 2018, which went into circulation in large numbers, this one is genuinely hard to come across in change. Keep it apart from your spending money if you find one.
How to recognize it
Emma Noble designed the reverse, which shows Peter Rabbit scrambling under Mr. McGregor's fence, together with his name. The low, stretched-out pose is the quickest way to pick it out from the other Peter Rabbit 50ps. Confirm the year on the obverse, where Jody Clark's portrait of the queen sits with the 2020 date. A 2020 date plus the fence scene means this coin. It is struck on the standard seven-sided cupronickel blank with a plain edge, so in hand it feels exactly like any other 50p. Only the picture and the date set it apart from the earlier Potter coins.
The other side carries Jody Clark's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, introduced in 2015 and the last of her reign.
2020 Peter Rabbit 50p by the numbers
No circulation mintage exists for the 2020 Peter Rabbit 50p because none were released to banks. The Royal Mint's other collector-only 50p coins dated 2020 were Dinosauria, 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 Peter Rabbit 50p
- Confirm the design. The reverse should match the Peter Rabbit 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.
Peter Rabbit has a large following among coin collectors. The 2020 coin closes the pair of collector-only Peter Rabbit designs that followed the circulating Potter coins. With no circulation mintage, it is much harder to find in change than the earlier coins. Still sealed, it draws a collector premium. A spent coin typically shows wear on Peter's back and on the fence rails, leaving it close to face value or a small premium. Pack coins are bright with crisp fence lines; circulated ones look softer and show fine scratches across the field.
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 | Emma Noble |
| 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 Dinosauria 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
What does the 2020 Peter Rabbit 50p show?
It shows Peter Rabbit wriggling under Mr. McGregor's fence along with his name. It was designed by Emma Noble and carries a 2020 date on the side with the queen's portrait.
Is the 2020 Peter Rabbit 50p in circulation?
It was never issued to banks. The Royal Mint sold it only in brilliant uncirculated packs, so any found in change came from a pack that was opened and spent by its buyer.
Mintage figures: Fifty pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.