2023 Coronation of King Charles III 50p
The 2023 Coronation of King Charles III 50p is a circulating 50p with 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
- 2023
- Circulation mintage
- 5,000,000
- Value band
- Face value
- Designer
- Natasha Jenkins
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 2023 Coronation of King Charles III 50p worth?
5 million were made, so the 2023 Coronation of King Charles III 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 2023 Coronation of King Charles III 50p rare?
- No. 5 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2023 Coronation of King Charles III 50p coins were made?
- 5,000,000 were struck for circulation.
- Who designed the 2023 Coronation of King Charles III 50p?
- The design is credited to Natasha Jenkins.
- What is the 2023 Coronation of King Charles III 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 2023 Coronation of King Charles III 50p still legal tender?
- Yes. Every 27.3 mm 50p, including commemoratives, is legal tender in the UK.
Why the 2023 Coronation of King Charles III 50p was made
King Charles III was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 6 May 2023, with Queen Camilla crowned alongside him. It was the first coronation in Britain since his mother's in 1953, so most people watching had never seen one before. Westminster Abbey has been the setting for English and then British coronations since William the Conqueror was crowned there on Christmas Day 1066. Almost a thousand years of ceremony sit behind the building on this coin.
The Royal Mint marked the coronation with a 50p struck for circulation, with a circulation mintage of 5,000,000. It was the second 50p to carry the King's portrait, after the 2022 memorial coin for Queen Elizabeth II. That makes it a natural partner to the memorial coin in any collection: one marks the end of the old reign and the other the formal start of the new one. With seventy years between the last two coronations, many collectors see this as a coin from a moment they may not witness again. That sense of occasion helped it stand out when it reached change. It remains one of the most recognizable coins of the new reign.
How to recognize it
Natasha Jenkins's design shows the exterior of Westminster Abbey with the King's royal cypher, the CIIIR monogram he uses as King. The abbey building makes the coin easy to recognize. The cypher confirms it belongs to the new reign. No people appear on it, only the building and the cypher. Check for the 2023 date. The obverse carries Martin Jennings's portrait of King Charles III, uncrowned and facing left. That pairing of the abbey and the King's portrait is unique among circulating 50ps, so there is little risk of mixing it up with anything else. The coin itself is the usual seven-sided cupronickel 50p, 27.3 mm wide.
The other side carries Martin Jennings' portrait of King Charles III, first used in 2022.
2023 Coronation of King Charles III 50p by the numbers
Measured by how many were made, the 2023 Coronation of King Charles III 50p ranks 42nd lowest of 76 circulating 50p coins with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 2022 Pride 50p (5 million); the next more common is the 2022 Platinum Jubilee 50p (5 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1973 EEC Hands 50p with 89.8 million, about 18 times as many. The scarcest is the 1992 Single Market 50p with 109,000, 46 times fewer than this one.
It was the only circulating commemorative 50p dated 2023. The regular Atlantic Salmon reverse accounted for another 200,000 that year.
What to check on your 2023 Coronation of King Charles III 50p
- Confirm the design. The reverse should match the Coronation of King Charles III described above and carry the date 2023; 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.
Five million coins is a moderate mintage, so the Coronation 50p is not scarce and a circulated example is a face value coin. Still, it records a once-in-a-generation event and is well worth keeping. The fine architectural detail on the abbey wears fast, so look for crisp towers and windows. Collectors could also buy it in a Royal Mint brilliant uncirculated pack. Pack coins have bright, unmarked fields with sharp detail, while coins from change look duller and carry small knocks. It pairs well with the 2022 memorial 50p.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 50 pence |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2023 |
| Circulation mintage | 5,000,000 |
| Composition | Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel) |
| Weight | 8.0 g |
| Diameter | 27.3 mm |
| Shape | Seven-sided (equilateral curve heptagon) |
| Edge | Plain |
| Designer | Natasha Jenkins |
| Portrait | Jennings |
Other 2023 50p coins
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| Atlantic Salmon 50p (2023 to today) | 2,200,000 | Face value |
Frequently asked questions
How many Coronation 50p coins were made?
The Royal Mint struck 5,000,000 Coronation 50ps for circulation in 2023. It is a moderate mintage, so the coin is not rare, though many people keep one as a souvenir of the coronation.
What is on the King Charles Coronation 50p?
The reverse shows Westminster Abbey, where the King was crowned on 6 May 2023, with his royal cypher. The obverse carries Martin Jennings's portrait of King Charles III, facing left and uncrowned.
Mintage figures: Fifty pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.