Over the past few years we've seen some unusual 50p designs, including Peter Pan, Gruffalo, Professor Stephen Hawking, Peter Rabbit, and Sherlock Holmes, and now there's another TWO Paddington Bear designs to add to the list.
The Royal Mint has released two designs including the popular childhood character, one of him in front of the Tower of London and one by the St Paul’s Cathedral.
Today, 13th August, the tills at the Royal Mint's museum in Llantrisant, South Wales, were filled with the new designs, and over the coming weeks they will be added to general circulation elsewhere.
As well as the coins that have entered circulation, there are also some Gold and Silver proofs available from The Royal Mint, as they tweeted, 'Paws up, who’s excited?! We bet you even had marmalade on toast for breakfast…or was that just us?'
This isn't the first time that a Paddington Bear 50p coin has been released. Last year, The Royal Mint released some new Paddington Bear 50p pieces into circulation, one with him sitting on a suitcase at Paddington train station, and one of him outside Buckingham Palace.
When they were released, Nicola Howell, director of consumer coins at The Royal Mint, said, "If you enjoy collecting coins, then keep your eyes peeled for Paddington Bear in your change and keep them safe in their own special collector album.
"Paddington Bear is well-loved and a part of British popular culture, and we're incredibly proud to be playing a part in the 60th anniversary celebrations."
Now take a look at some of special coins and notes:
Special Money - coins and notes
1 of 14UK Crowned Shield £1 coin
Although they are fairly common, they can currently fetch around £3 - £5.50. They are one of the oldest £1 coins around having been minted in 1988, just five years after the £1 coin was introduced.
2 of 14Edinburgh City £1 coin
This was released in 2011 and is thought to be worth £12 - £16.
3 of 14Scotland's Thistle and Bluebell £1 coin
Even with a mintage of 5.1 million it is worth £3 - £5 to collectors.
4 of 14Cardiff City £1 coin
This coin features the Coat of Arms of Cardiff as the principal focus to represent Wales. It is thought to be worth £11 - £15.
5 of 14London City £1 coin
Although more common than the Scottish and Welsh versions it is still worth £5 - £8.
6 of 14EC and Kew Gardens
Dating back to 1992/3 this larger 50p coin (left) was issued to celebrate the British presidency of the council of Europe. No longer in circulation could be worth around £40.The Kew Gardens design was minted to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the foundation of the Royal Botanic Gardens. Only 210,000 coins were made and is now expected to sell on eBay for £70 - £100.
7 of 142011 WWF and 2012 The Offside Explained
2011 WWF design of the 50p (left) can often sell for around £200 to collectors.The Offside Explained 50p apparently regularly changes hands for around £10.
8 of 142012 Olympics - Swimmer
Early versions of the coin show the swimmer with the water covering their head, however later versions have the lines of water removed.According to eBay only 600 of the early version are in circulation, fetching up to £3000 when they were first placed on eBay.
9 of 14New fiver (£5)
The new £5 note was released into circulation on the 13th September 2016. Notes with serial numbers starting with AA or AK 47 sold for much more than than their face value.
10 of 14New tenner (£10)
The new £10 note, featuring Jane Austen was released on 14th September 2017.As before many with the serial number AA or AK 47 were highly sought after as well as those with serial numbers relating to Jane Austen's birthday, date of death, or date the Pride and Prejudice was first published.
11 of 14Peter Rabbit 50p
The Peter Rabbit collectable coin is available to buy from the Royal Mint.
12 of 14Benjamin Bunny 50p
Benjamin Bunny was released earlier this year (2017).
13 of 14Tom Kitten 50p
Tom Kitten was released earlier this year (2017).
14 of 14Jeremy Fisher 50p
Jeremy Fisher was released earlier this year (2017).
The new designs come just a week after Change Checker's Scarcity Index was been updated. The most recent results have the Kew Gardens 50p design at the top of the list. And the rest of the Top Five coins also remaining unchanged - Football, Triathlon, Wrestling and Judo.
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