On This Day - 14 October 1969 The First 50p Coin

[LawrenceChard]

Just got today's promo e-mail from the Royal Mint (mis?)Informer.

Basically it's a sales pitch for its range of new gold, silver, and base metal proof, and B.U. commemoratives.

Here's an old, low-res photo of one which I took about 20 years ago:

That happened to be the best example we could find at the time. Strangely enough, minty 1969 fifty pences don't seem to turn up very often. If we see one, we will get a better photo.

The above photo was from our very first website:

https://24carat.co.uk/frame.php?url=fiftypencestory.html

amd was probably written in about 2000.

There are no plans to update that page.

[AndrewSL76]

One word: 'character'

I would take a general circulating coin with character over a plush shiny brand new one every day of the week.  

 

 

[LawrenceChard]

1 hour ago, AndrewSL76 said:

One word: 'character'

I would take a general circulating coin with character over a plush shiny brand new one every day of the week.  

 

 

I agree, but it is still preferable to have a minty one to photograph.

One big distinction, in my opinion, is that it is a coin intended for circulation, in preference over a "made for collectors" coin.

It would have been good to have had access to a mint bag (£250) of 1969 fifty pences, and pick out a near perfect specimen, but for photographic purposes I would be equally happy to photograph one from a B.U. mint set, third choice would be a proof version, but that actually makes it a different variation of the same coin.

Fouth choice would be a circulated specimen, but even then, I would try to find the best condition coin to photograph.

Whenever I see the image I posted, I feel frustrated that it was the best specimen I could find at the time. In the next few days, I will try and search to see if we have a better one in stock.

We did have some of the 2019 "reprise" 50 years proof sets a few years ago, so if we still have one, may photograph the 1969, and possibly most or all of the others.

As you can probably tell I collect photographs. 😎

[Stuntman]

I received a couple of very minty specimens of 1969 50p coins in 1990, over the counter in the betting shop that I was working in.

I asked the shop manager's permission to exchange £1 from my own pocket for these two 50p coins.  I still have both of them; one is better than the other, but both are virtually UNC.

It just goes to show that you never know when something like this will turn up, 20-plus years later!

[Bruce06]

6 hours ago, Stuntman said:

I received a couple of very minty specimens of 1969 50p coins in 1990, over the counter in the betting shop that I was working in.

I asked the shop manager's permission to exchange £1 from my own pocket for these two 50p coins.  I still have both of them; one is better than the other, but both are virtually UNC.

It just goes to show that you never know when something like this will turn up, 20-plus years later

 

Good job done👍

[TeaTime]

On 29/10/2021 at 21:05, Stuntman said:

I received a couple of very minty specimens of 1969 50p coins in 1990, over the counter in the betting shop that I was working in.

I asked the shop manager's permission to exchange £1 from my own pocket for these two 50p coins.  I still have both of them; one is better than the other, but both are virtually UNC.

It just goes to show that you never know when something like this will turn up, 20-plus years later!

That is tragic and so evocative. Whenever i get a minty coin in my change (that's obviously come from a set) i have mixed feelings. Pleasure in finding them and a little sadness as i imagine the story of how they ended up as regular shrapnel 🤨

[Stuntman]

Yes, I can see how that can feel sad.

At least in my case, the coins were 'only' 1969 50p coins and they made hundreds of millions of them, so even the mintiest of them has very little monetary value.