Fifty Pence Coin
The fifty pence coin, or 50p, was introduced in October 1969 in prepartion for decimalisation in the UK on 15 February 1971. The only major change to the coin since then happened on 1 September 1997, when a smaller coin was introduced.
Although I do not see myself as a coin collector I have always enjoyed the designs on the fifty pence. The UK uses the coin to mark many commemorative events. Mostly because the coin is larger than other coins, though the two pound coin is also used now.
To date the reverse of the fifty pence has had three designs. The first two featured Britannia and the third is a segment of the Royal Arms.
Of course my interest lies in when the reverse of the coin is used for marking important events. These coin are not usually worth any more than their face value, unless you get the Kew Garden coin.
Below is a table of the fifty pence coins I currently have. I also have a collection of London 2012 coins.
| 1973 | UK's accession to the EEC | |
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| 1992-93 | UK's Presidency of the Council of Ministers and the completion of the Single European Market | |
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| 1994 | D-Day Landings: 50th Anniversary | |
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D-Day, June 6th 1944, was the start of a major offensive against the Germans. The Normandy landings were the beginning of Operation Overlord. The landings started the Battle of Normandy, which has been called the beginning of the end of war in Europe. | |
| 1998 | European Union | |
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UK's Presidency of the EU, and the 25th Anniversary of the UK's accession to the EEC. | |
| 1998 | National Health Service: 50th Anniversary | |
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The National Health Service was implemented across the UK on 5th July 1948. It was recommend by the Beveridge Report with the goal of: 'comprehensive health and rehabilitation services for prevention and cure of disease'. | |
| 2000 | Public Libraries Act : 150th Anniversary | |
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The Public Libraries Act 1850 enabled local boroughs to create free public libraries. The Act was quite contentious due to cost, but it main aim was educating the public. | |
| 2003 | Women's Social and Political Union : 100th Anniversary | |
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The WSPU was a women-only militant organisation founded in Manchester on 10 October 1903. Its aim was the right for women to vote and to stand for electoral office. This was archieved by The Representation of the People Act 1928. | |
| 2004 | First four-minute mile by Roger Bannister : 50th Anniversary | |
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Roger Bannister was 25 at the time he broke the four-minute mile, running it in 3 mins 59.4 seconds on a track in Oxford. He archived this on May 6th 1954. | |
| 2005 | Samuel Johnson's English Dictionary : 250th Anniversary | |
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Johnson's Dictionary was published on 15 April 1755, and took almost nine years to complete. Samuel Johnson, 1709 - 1784, completely the work almost single-handedly. | |
| 2006 | Institution of the Victoria Cross : 150th Anniversary | |
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The Victoria Cross was instituted by Queen Victoria on 29 January 1856 and made retrospective to 1854 to include actions in the Crimean War. The Victoria Cross is awarded "for most conspicuous bravery or some daring pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy". To mark the 150th anniversary two coins were released. | |
| 2007 | Centenary of the Foundation of the Scouting Movement | |
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Robert Baden-Powell founded the Scout movement in the summer of 1907. Whilst in the British army in wrote books about reconnaissance, which become very popular with boys back in Britain. Once he returned to Britain he ran a summer camp for boys on Brownsea Island, Dorset. This camp is generally accepted to be the creation of the Scouts. | |
| 2009 | 250th anniversary of the foundation of the Royal Botanic Gardens | |
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| 2010 | Celebrating 100 Years of Girlguiding UK | |
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After running the Scouts since 1907 it become clear to Robert Baden-Powell that an organisation for girls would also be popular. The Girl Guides was formed in 1910 and he asked his sister, Agnes, to run the movement. | |
| 2011 | Celebrating 50 years of the work of WWF | |
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The World Wildlife Fund was founded in Switzerland on April 29, 1961, changing to the World Wide Fund for Nature in 1986. The organisation's logo is the giant panda. Its mission is to: "Stop the degradation of the planet's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature". | |
| 2013 | Birth of Christopher Ironside : 100th Anniversary | |
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This coin commemorate the birth of the man who designed the coins for decimalisation in the UK, Christopher Ironside (1913 - 1992). This Royal Arms design was the runner-up to the Britannia design which was used on the first 50p coins. | |
| 2013 | Birth of Benjamin Britten : 100th Anniversary | |
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Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist; and one of the central figures of Twentieth century music. His most famous piece was the epic War Requiem. | |
| 2014 | Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games | |
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In 2014 Glasgow hosted the 20th Commonwealth Games. | |
| 2015 | 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain | |
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| 2016 | 950th Anniversary of the Battle of Hastings | |
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| 2016 | 150th Anniversary of Beatrix Potter | |
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| 2016 | Team GB | |
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