Fifty Pence (British Coin)

Fifty Pence (British Coin)

The British decimal fifty pence (50p) coin – often pronounced "fifty pee" – was issued on 14 October 1969 in the run-up to decimalisation to replace the ten shilling note. Despite the coin's novel shape, there was initial confusion amongst some members of the public, with the coin being mistaken for both the old half crown and the new ten pence piece.

The coin is minted from a cupronickel alloy of 75% copper and 25% nickel. Between 1969 and 1997 the coin weighed 13.50 grams and had a diameter of 30.0 millimetres. On 1 September 1997 the coin was reduced in size to weigh 8.00 grams with a diameter of 27.3 millimetres. Apart from the reduction in size the design remained essentially the same (although the original size is no longer legal tender). The old size 50p coin was withdrawn from circulation on 28 February 1998.

The coin is not circular but is an equilaterally curved heptagon to aid identification. The sides are not straight but are curved so that the centre of curvature is the opposite apex of the coin. In other words, whilst the coin is of a shape which doesn't have a fixed radius about any point, it does have a fixed diameter as a minimum dimension across the face of the coin. This allows the coin to be more easily used and verified as legal tender automatically in vending machines and slot machines for example and also to roll freely (see also curve of constant width). The same shape, though of a smaller diameter, was also later used for the twenty pence piece.

The current reverse of the coin was designed by Matthew Dent who in April 2008 won a Royal Mint competition to redesign the reverses of all circulating coins (except the £2 coin). It depicts the lowest point of the Royal Shield, with the words below the point of the shield. The original reverse of the coin, designed by Christopher Ironside, depicted a seated Britannia alongside a lion, accompanied by either (1969–1982) or above Britannia, with the numeral 50 underneath the seated figure.

Three different obverses have been used so far – from 1969 to 1984 the head of Queen Elizabeth II by Arnold Machin, from 1985 to 1997 the head by Raphael Maklouf, and since 1998 the head by Ian Rank-Broadley.

As of 31 March 2010 there were an estimated 845 million 50p coins in circulation.