Discover the special edition 50p Coin celebrating Beatrix Potter's iconic character Benjamin Bunny.
The Tale of Benjamin Bunny was published in September 1904, as the sequel to ‘The Tale of Peter Rabbit’ where Benjamin teams up with his cousin Peter to explore the garden of the infamous Mr. McGregor and retrieve the clothes Peter lost in his first adventure. The daring bunnies narrowly evade a close encounter with the farm cat and get a stern talking to as a result.
Have you found this coin in your change? This is the 2017 Benjamin Bunny 50p coin and is dedicated to the works of Beatrix Potter – but is this coin rare and how much is this coin worth today?
According to the most recent eBay and Amazon sales, the value of the coin, in good circulated condition and excluding any postage or selling costs, is around £2.25. So, at nearly five times it's face value, it's a good addition to your collection if you find it in your change.
The Beatrix Potter 50p collection
A total of five Emma Noble-designed coins featuring favourites including Peter Rabbit, Beatrix Potter, Tiggy-Winkle, Jemima Puddle-duck and Squirrel Nutkin were released in 2016.
Due to the coins' enormous popularity, the Royal Mint decided to continue the series in 2017 with a new coin that included Benjamin Bunny, Tom Kitten, Mr. Jeremy Fisher, and Peter Rabbit once more.
Another Peter Rabbit coin, Mrs. Tittlemouse, The Tailor of Gloucester, and Flopsy Bunny were the ones that came after them in 2018.
2019 and 2020 saw the release of a collector's edition Peter Rabbit coin, continuing the series.
It is clear that this series of 50p coins is by far the most loved and sought after.
History of the coin
The Tale of Peter Rabbit is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter. It follows a mischievous and disobedient young Peter Rabbit as he gets into, and is chased around, the garden of Mr. McGregor. He escapes and returns home to his mother, who puts him to bed after offering him chamomile tea.
The book was a success, and multiple reprints were issued in the years immediately following its debut. It has been translated into 36 languages, and with 45 million copies sold it is one of the best-selling books in history.
Design of the 2017 Benjamin Bunny 50p coin
The cupro-nickel form of the coin has a plain edge, is 27.3mm in diameter, weighs 8g, and is 1.78mm thick.
Emma Noble, a Royal Mint engraver, designed the reverse side of the coin to feature the image of Benjamin Bunny.
On the reverse of the fifty pence coin, is the unmistakable image of Benjamin Bunny, in his iconic jacket and hilariously large tam-o-shanter, a Scottish cap renowned from Robert Burns' famous poem.
Benjamin is gripping an item of Peter's clothing symbolizing his quest to reclaim his cousin Peter Rabbit’s lost attire as described in the first book. An onion rests in his other hand. The cousins constantly pilfered food from the McGregor farm.
The words in capital letters - BENJAMIN BUNNY - are embossed around the edge of the coin's reverse.
The initials, “en” in lower case are embossed in the lower right, around the squirrel’s stomach, the initials of the designer, Emma Noble.
Emma Noble had worked at the Royal Mint for 20 years before she was chosen to design the Beatrix Potter series of coins.
On the obverse side, running continuously around the effigy, is the monarch's legend and the date: ELIZABETH II · D · G · REG · F · D · 50 PENCE ·2017.
Translated from Latin: Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, Queen, Defender of the Faith, followed by the value and denomination in English.
In small letters below the head, the artist's initials J.C for Jody Clark.
Jody Clark was the youngest person to design the monarch’s profile on this currency at the age of just 33. Jody Clark was also the first Royal Mint employee to design a UK definitive coin portrait in more than 100 years.
He had only been working at the Royal Mint for about two years prior. The new design would be the first time her portrait had been changed in 17 years.
Jody Clark’s design was unveiled in 2015 as the fifth definitive coinage portrait of Her Majesty and the fourth portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in circulation.
Mintage of the Coin
Official figures from the Royal Mint's website show that the 2017 Benjamin Bunny 50p coin had the highest mintage of the 4 coins released that year, with a mintage of 25,000,000.
Additionally, the coin was also minted as a Brilliant Uncirculated variety in individual presentation folders as well as complete sets, in addition to silver proof versions which had a total mintage of 15,000.
For reference, the 2016 Jemima 50p coin had a mintage of 2.1 million, Mrs Tiggy-Winkle 50p coin had a mintage of 8.8 million, 2016 Peter Rabbit coin had a mintage of 9.7 million and the Beatrix Potter 50p coin had a mintage of 6.9 million.
The rarest 50p coins in the Beatrix Potter series are the 2018 Peter Rabbit and the 2018 Flopsy bunny 50p coin, which both have a mintage of 1.4 million.
In 2017, there was also one other 50p coin issued into general circulation; in addition to the Beatrix Potter coins and that was the 2017 Sir Isaac Newton 50p coin which has a low mintage of just over 1.8 million.
Is the 2017 Benjamin Bunny 50p Coin Rare?
No, the 2017 Benjamin Bunny 50p is the most common commemorative 50p coin in circulation in Britain today with 25 million released in 2017 - this is excluding the standard Britannia and Royal Shield 50p designs
The next highest-minted commemorative coin was the 2006 Victoria Cross Award 50p coin with a mintage of 12.087.000.
So with a mintage of 25 million, the 2017 Benjamin Bunny 50p is not considered a rare coin but they are getting harder and harder to find as collectors want them for their own collections. Also, given the popularity of the Beatrix Potter coins, the coin is still highly sought after. The 2017 Benjamin Bunny 50p can still be found in your change and as collectors are adding them to their collections, the coin is becoming more scarce.
How much is The 2017 Benjamin Bunny 50p worth? How rare is it?
As we said, it is always it is difficult to put an exact price on a coin as all coins vary in condition, but we would expect the circulated 2017 Benjamin Bunny 50p, in good condition to be worth around £2.25 in today's market excluding any postage costs.
Where Can I Buy the 2017 Benjamin Bunny 50p Coin?
You can buy the 2017 Benjamin Bunny 50p coin online on auction sites such as eBay or Amazon but please ensure you look at all the information and reputation of the seller.
Alternatively, you can buy it from ourselves by clicking here.
Unfortunately, as this coin is now nearly 6 years old, the Royal Mint no longer stock this coin so it is only available to buy on the secondary market.
Are there any known errors of this coin?
The Royal Mint has not confirmed any error versions of the 2017 Benjamin Bunny 50p but there have been known die rotations of the obverse side, in other words the Queen's head is rotated on the coin. These coins have been known to sell for over £50 on the secondary market so be sure to check your coin!
Bit of Trivia...
Twenty thousand copies were published and released in September 1904. Within a month, reprints were ordered, and another ten thousand copies were printed at year's end. Much to her embarrassment, Potter realized "muffettees" (a muff worn at the wrist) was misspelled, but the error was not corrected until the third printing.
1 comment
Lisa Fairservice
I’ve actually discovered the one with the rotation difference which I didn’t know I had and was wandering what I should do with this coin, I normally just spend my penny’s, just recently started saving my silver and penny’s, came across my benjamin bunny in my bag, read about it and got excited, and it’s the one they spoke about with the heads pointing, was looking for more information please and thank you, Lisa. (BEAUTIFUL COIN BY THE WAY).