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New Beatrix Potter 50p designs unveiled: how rare are these coins?
The Royal Mint has unveiled four new additions to the hugely popular Peter Rabbit 50p coin collection, first launched in 2016 to commemorate 150 years since the birth of Beatrix Potter.
Designs include the much-loved characters Peter Rabbit, Flopsy Bunny, Mrs Tittlemouse and The Tailor of Gloucester.
Find out how they compare with other rare 50p coins, how much they're currently selling for and how you can get your hands on one.
How to get a 2018 Beatrix Potter 50p coin
The series of silver proof coins are available from The Royal Mint. Each design is in a full-colour hand-painted style, and costs £60 each.
Currently, only the Peter Rabbit coin has been released, but you can order to reserve the whole four-coin series now, which will be sent out when the coins are available. Flopsy Bunny will be released in March, while The Tailor of Gloucester will follow in April and Mrs Tittlemouse in May.
When the full-colour versions of Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddleduck, Squirrel Nutkin and Mrs Tiggy-Winkle were released in 2016, they sold out within days from the Royal Mint website.
A 2018 uncirculated Peter Rabbit 50p coin can also be purchased for £10, though this is uncoloured.
A limited amount of coins in this design will also be released into wider circulation later this year - so you'll have to keep your eyes peeled to find one in your loose change.
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What are the rarest 50p coins in circulation?
Currently, the scarcest - and therefore most valuable - 50p coin is the 2009 Kew Gardens design, which currently fetches an average of £82 on Ebay.
The 2016 Jemima Puddle-Duck coin - also part of the Peter Rabbit collection - fetches an average of £11 on Ebay, and is the rarest of the Beatrix Potter coins. Its value has risen by approximately £6 since June 2017, according to Change Checker.
Last month saw the release of the 2018 Sir Isaac Newton 50p coin, which is only available at The Royal Mint Experience, and is not being released into wider circulation - so it's possible this design could take the top spot in future for the rarest 50p coin.
See the graph below for the 2017 mintage figures showing the rarest 50p coins.
How do limited edition 50p coins compare with other rare coins?
The 2002 Commonwealth Games Northern Ireland design is the rarest £2, with a mintage of 485,000. On average, this can sell on Ebay for £30, and has held a steady price for the past six months, Change Checker found.
The rarest £1 coin is the 2011 Edinburgh edition, with a mintage of 935,000. It can often be found selling between £10 and £15, according to current Ebay listings.
A printing error in 2008 also produced a number of undated 20p coins, which fetch an average of £53 - the price of this coin has risen £6 since June 2017, according to Change Checker
But keep in mind that a coin is only worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it. While some coins sell for a very high price, it doesn't necessarily mean the coin itself is worth that much money - or that you would find a buyer willing to pay the same amount.
How to check if a coin is genuine
In an investigation for Which? Money magazine, Which? uncovered the scammers taking advantage of people wanting to invest in rare coins. Read the full investigation: Revealed: the dark side of the coin investment craze
