2020 Rosalind Franklin 50p
The 2020 Rosalind Franklin 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
- 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 2020 Rosalind Franklin 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 Rosalind Franklin 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 Rosalind Franklin 50p coins were made?
- None were made for circulation. The Mint sold this design only in packs and sets.
- Who designed the 2020 Rosalind Franklin 50p?
- The design is credited to David Knapton.
- What is the 2020 Rosalind Franklin 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 Rosalind Franklin 50p still legal tender?
- Yes. Every 27.3 mm 50p, including commemoratives, is legal tender in the UK.
Why the 2020 Rosalind Franklin 50p was made
Rosalind Franklin was born in London on 25 July 1920 and became a pioneering X-ray crystallographer. Working at King's College London in the early 1950s, her lab produced Photo 51, an X-ray diffraction image of DNA that gave crucial evidence for its double helix structure. James Watson and Francis Crick published their model of DNA in 1953 and later shared the 1962 Nobel Prize with Maurice Wilkins. Franklin had died in 1958 at only 37. Her role was not widely recognized for many years.
For the centenary of her birth, the Royal Mint chose her for the second coin in its Innovation in Science series, after Stephen Hawking in 2019. The coin was sold as a brilliant uncirculated coin in packs and did not go into general circulation. If a Rosalind Franklin 50p shows up in your change, it was bought in a pack and then spent. It is legal tender at its face value of 50p, but it is a coin you are more likely to see in a collection than in a till.
How to recognize it
David Knapton designed the reverse, which centers on Photo 51 itself. The image shows the distinctive X-shaped pattern of spots that told scientists DNA was a helix. On the coin it reads almost like an abstract design, which surprises people who expect a portrait. The obverse gives the centenary year, 2020, beside Jody Clark's portrait of the queen. No other 50p uses an X-ray pattern, making confusion with other designs unlikely. Under a magnifier the separate spots in the pattern should stand out clearly. That is where to start when judging wear. The coin is struck in cupronickel on the normal seven-sided blank with a plain edge.
The other side carries Jody Clark's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, introduced in 2015 and the last of her reign.
2020 Rosalind Franklin 50p by the numbers
No circulation mintage exists for the 2020 Rosalind Franklin 50p because none were released to banks. The Royal Mint's other collector-only 50p coins dated 2020 were Peter Rabbit, Dinosauria, 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 Rosalind Franklin 50p
- Confirm the design. The reverse should match the Rosalind Franklin 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.
As the second of five Innovation in Science coins, this one is often bought to build the series. With no circulation mintage, it is in a different league from the circulating commemoratives that appear in change by the million. In an unopened pack it carries a collector premium. A loose coin that has been spent usually has scuffs over the X pattern, which lowers interest to face value or a small premium. The fine dots of the diffraction pattern are the best condition test: on a pack coin they are sharp and separate, while wear quickly blurs them.
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 | David Knapton |
| 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 Dinosauria 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 is Photo 51 on the Rosalind Franklin 50p?
Photo 51 is the X-ray diffraction image of DNA produced in Franklin's lab in the early 1950s. Its X-shaped pattern was key evidence for the double helix. It forms the main design of the coin.
Where does the Rosalind Franklin 50p sit in the Innovation in Science series?
It is the second coin, issued in 2020 for the centenary of her birth. Stephen Hawking came first in 2019, followed by John Logie Baird, Charles Babbage and Insulin in 2021.
Mintage figures: Fifty pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.