2022 Royal Shield 50p Coin
The 2022 Royal Shield 50p is a 50p coin struck for circulation with 9.5 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2022
- Circulation mintage
- 9,500,000
- Value band
- Face value
- Composition
- Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel)
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 2022 Royal Shield 50p worth?
9.5 million were made, so the 2022 Royal Shield 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
- A sets-only date or a low circulation year
- A genuine mint error
For market prices, look at recent sold results for the same coin in the same condition, not asking prices.
Quick answers
- Is the 2022 Royal Shield 50p rare?
- No. 9.5 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2022 50p coins were made?
- 9,500,000 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 2022 Royal Shield 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 2022 Royal Shield 50p still legal tender?
- Yes. Every 27.3 mm 50p is legal tender in the UK.
The 2022 50p coin in context
The 2022 Royal Shield 50p is the last regular 50p of Queen Elizabeth II. The Royal Mint struck 9,500,000 for circulation, a small run that reflected falling demand for cash. It was the final year of her reign: the Queen died on 8 September 2022, after seventy years on the throne. Commemoratives dated 2022 included a Platinum Jubilee 50p and a coin for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Fewer new regular coins were needed as card and phone payments kept growing.
After her death the Royal Mint issued a memorial 50p for the Queen, carrying the portrait of King Charles III. It was among the first coins to carry his portrait and was dated 2022. It has its own page. The regular coins for the King followed with the Atlantic Salmon design dated 2023, ending fourteen years of Matthew Dent's Royal Shield on the 50p. That makes 2022 a farewell coin twice over: the last date of the shield and the last regular 50p of the Queen. For many people it is the last date they will connect with the familiar shield puzzle.
How to recognize it
Dent's reverse shows its section of the Royal Arms shield, with FIFTY PENCE in words and no numeral. Jody Clark's portrait of the Queen in the George IV State Diadem is on the obverse, with JC beneath the bust. Metal, size and weight are unchanged from 1997: cupronickel, 27.3 mm and 8 g. Check the portrait: a 2022 50p with the King's head is the memorial commemorative, not this coin. Royal Shield coins kept the same design from 2008 to the end, so the shield section on a 2022 matches the one on a 2008. Clark's is the fourth portrait of the Queen used on the 50p.
The other side carries Jody Clark's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, introduced in 2015 and the last of her reign.
2022 Royal Shield 50p by the numbers
In mintage terms the 2022 Royal Shield 50p ranks 5th lowest of 34 50p dates and varieties from 1969 to 2023. The next scarcer is the 2008 Britannia 50p (3.5 million); the next more common is the 2013 Royal Shield 50p (10.3 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1997 Small Britannia 50p with 456.4 million, about 48 times as many. The scarcest is the 2023 Atlantic Salmon 50p with 200,000, 48 times fewer than this one.
Compared with the dates around it, the 2022 output was 4.9 times fewer than 2020 and 48 times the 2023 figure.
Over the 2020s the Mint produced 56.2 million regular 50p coins across 4 dates and varieties; the 2022 Royal Shield 50p accounts for 17% of that.
What to check on your 2022 Royal Shield 50p
- Confirm the date. Most dates are common, so the date and any variety decide whether a coin is worth setting aside.
- Check the size: this date is the 27.3 mm coin introduced in 1997, which weighs 8.0 g, with seven curved sides.
- Look at the surfaces under a light. Coins from sets have unbroken luster and color; change-worn coins are dull and scuffed.
- Never clean it. Rubbing or dipping strips the original color and leaves fine scratches.
At 9,500,000, the 2022 is one of the lower Royal Shield dates and the last of the Queen. Circulated examples are close to face value, while sharp coins draw a small premium. It belongs in any collection of the shield series as the final date. Pair it with a 2023 salmon to show the changeover between reigns. Keep one with sharp lettering if you can. Coins from Royal Mint sets are the brightest, but a clean one from change makes an honest keepsake of the end of a reign.
Royal Shield 50p (2008 to 2022)
Britannia's last batch of 50ps was dated 2008. Later that year Matthew Dent's Royal Shield took over, the winning entry in an open Royal Mint competition to redesign every coin from 1p to the pound. Each coin from 1p to 50p carries one section of the shield from the Royal Arms, so placing the six together rebuilds the full shield, while the pound coin shows it whole. The 50p keeps the 27.3 mm, 8 g cupronickel blank of 1997. It reads FIFTY PENCE in words, with no numeral.
Two portraits appear in this era. Ian Rank-Broadley's runs until 2015, when Jody Clark's portrait, the fifth of the reign, took over, so 2015 exists with both. Output swung wildly. Commemorative 50ps took over the circulation role in many years, from Kew Gardens and the 2011 Olympic sports designs to Beatrix Potter's characters, which left no Royal Shield 50ps made for change in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2016, 2018 or 2021. Those dates come only from collector sets.
The years that were issued vary from just 1,800,000 in 2017 to 122,000,000 in 2019. Card payments grew quickly through these years and banks returned plenty of used coins, so new orders often stayed small. Every Royal Shield 50p is legal tender. When sorting, check the date first and then the portrait: a sets-only date in your change came from a broken set, while a 2017 or 2022 is worth putting aside. Most others are face value coins.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 50 pence |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2022 |
| Circulation mintage | 9,500,000 |
| Composition | Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel) |
| Weight | 8.0 g |
| Diameter | 27.3 mm |
| Shape | Seven-sided (equilateral curve heptagon) |
| Edge | Plain |
| Portrait | Clark |
Frequently asked questions
Is the 2022 50p the last one with the Queen?
It is the last regular 50p with her portrait. The Royal Mint struck 9,500,000 dated 2022. Commemoratives dated 2022 also carry her portrait, but the memorial 50p shows King Charles III.
Was the Royal Shield 50p replaced?
Yes. The Atlantic Salmon design took over for King Charles III with coins dated 2023. The Royal Shield 50ps remain legal tender and still circulate alongside the new design, with no change in size or shape.
Mintage figures: Fifty pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.