New 50p coin: why you could have £26000 in your pocket

With inflation running high and interest rates hovering near historic lows, finding a safe place to preserve the value of your wealth is becoming increasingly difficult. But some savers have found an alternative way of protecting their money: coin collecting.

More people are turning to the Royal Mint, the UK’s official coin maker, to help them build their own private collections. Its Collector Services section, which assists hobbyists and investors in identifying and locating rare coins, posted a 50pc increase in its operating profit to £2.4m in its last financial year. Knight Frank’s Wealth Report found that coin investing delivered an average 72pc return between 2011 and 2021.

It is the 50p that has a particularly special place in many collectors’ hearts, according to Rebecca Morgan, head of Collector Services at the Royal Mint. Today, just over one million new 50p coins arrive in Post Offices across the country, kickstarting a race among numismatists to find one. The new mint will commemorate the 70th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s ascension to the throne in 1952. 

“The London 2012 Olympics started the nation’s love affair with the 50p,” Ms Morgan said. “There were a number of designs and it became a real frenzy across the UK to collect every sport. Now the hobby has grown over the years, and some people even use it as a way to diversify their investments.” 

Matthew Faulkner, a 31-year-old coin enthusiast from Chester, collected all 29 designs of the 50p Olympics coin 10 years ago. 

“These coins have been really popular among collectors in recent years,” said Mr Faulkner, who used to work in a Post Office. “When the Royal Mint released Beatrix Potter 50p coins in 2018, kids loved it. There would be 10-year-olds that came to the counter and asked for Peter Rabbit.” 

Coins can be very lucrative, whether you collect and hold on to them or trade them very quickly. “Picking new coins can be a winning strategy,” added Mr Faulkner. “New mints can be really popular, which means you can flip them quickly. You could buy a coin for £100 and sell for £300 the week after.” 

Much of their value depends on the scarcity of that particular coin. The Kew Gardens 50p coin has been the most expensive of its denomination. Only 210,000 were in circulation at launch in 2009; for comparison, the next rarest was the Olympic wrestling coin, of which 1,129,500 were minted. At the time of its launch, it traded for £9,000 on the open market; in 2019, a version of the Kew Gardens coin sold for £26,000. 

The potential for huge gains caught the attention of 16-year-old Mackenzie Fitzjohn, a student from Swansea, who started collecting two years ago. “I used to invest in stocks and shares, and I have some money in digital coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum,” he said. “But I prefer physical coins because it’s a hobby that pays you well. I enjoy history and I enjoy investing, and coin collecting is like a two-in-one.” 

He added that he tried to grow his collection regularly. “I try to buy an expensive gold sovereign around once a month, maybe for around £500,” he said. Most of his collection is historical, with at least half of the coins dating from before 1947.

 “Sometimes my friends will look through change and find something exciting like a rare commemorative 50p. That is what sparks their interest for the first time.” 

Mr Fitzjohn warned that coin collecting is not for the faint of heart, however. “Sometimes the prices can be quite volatile because the Royal Mint releases so many coins,” he said. “It can be hard to value them yourself, and you have to go to companies that you trust to value them. But ultimately I think it is a safe place for my savings and as long as I don’t need the money urgently, I will continue to grow my collection.” 

The most Mr Faulkner has spent on his collection was £760 for a gold coin of King George III from 1819. “I don’t really invest in any other way,” he said. “I have some traditional savings accounts. But for me coin collecting is a cross between a passion and investing, although I never started with the mindset that I would make money off it.”