UK 50 Pence Commemorative Hunting

Decent!

Looking good!

Excellent!

I got £250 worth from the bank yesterday. Here is a breakdown:

Definitive coins:
1997 182
1998 30
1999 10
2000 5
2001 29
2002 8
2003 5
2004 17
2005 12
2006 14
2007 7
2008 Britannia 1
2008 Shield 6
2012 22
2013 10
2014 22
2015 Rank-Broadley 7
2015 Jody Clark 16
2017 1
2019 76

Commemorative coins:
2005 Dictionary 3
2007 Scouts 1
2011 Olympics Hockey 1
2016 Team GB 1
2016 Squirrel Nutkin 1
2017 Benjamin Bunny 1
2017 Tale of Peter Rabbit 1
2018 Paddington at Station 1
2019 Paddington at St Paul's Cathedral 1
2019 Sherlock Holmes 1
2020 Diversity 1
2022 Pride 2
2022 Charles III / Life and Legacy of QE2 4

Others:
Jersey 1997 1

GRAND TOTAL 500

Mixed lot. No coronation coins and few of the earlier 2000s commemoratives but the 2022 Charles III coins seem to be circulating normally - last year they were being rationed by post offices and you were lucky to get one.

Pride coins also seem to be getting more common:

I found one very lowball 1997 50p!

My last bit of coin 'roll' hunting for the year! Yesterday I got three £10 bags of 50p coins from my local bank. Not a single commemorative. This morning I was in Canterbury and got another £30 worth. Much more fruitful - I got my first-ever Charles III Coronation 50p! The circulation issue differs from those previously released to collectors, as the King has a bare head:

Apart from the Coronation 50p, which is the first 2023 British coin I've found in circulation, today's batch also included one of the fairly elusive 'Pride' coins and two 'Benjamins' - one of the very common Benjamin Bunnies and one of the scarcer 2013 Benjamin Brittens, with a circulation cameo to boot!

This is a report of the total of my success at searching 50 pence coins in the UK in 2023.
From a total of £18,025.00 I found the following commemoratives & foreign :-

1998 European Union (16)
1998 NHS (5)
2000 Public Libraries (43)
2003 Suffragette Movement (8)
2004 Sub Four Minute Mile (39)
2005 Johnson's Dictionary (130)
2006 Victoria Cross - Medal (51)
2006 Victoria Cross - Soldier (48)
2007 Boy Scouts (44)
2009 Kew Gardens (0)
2010 Girl Guides (29)
2011 Olympic Games London 2012 - Aquatics (7)
2011 Olympic Games London 2012 - Archery (6)
2011 Olympic Games London 2012 - Athletics (0)
2011 Olympic Games London 2012 - Badminton (4)
2011 Olympic Games London 2012 - Basketball (2)
2011 Olympic Games London 2012 - Boccia (5)
2011 Olympic Games London 2012 - Boxing (2)
2011 Olympic Games London 2012 - Canoeing (7)
2011 Olympic Games London 2012 - Cycling (1)
2011 Olympic Games London 2012 - Equestrian (3)
2011 Olympic Games London 2012 - Fencing (3)
2011 Olympic Games London 2012 - Football (1)
2011 Olympic Games London 2012 - Goalball (1)
2011 Olympic Games London 2012 - Gymnastics (3)
2011 Olympic Games London 2012 - Handball (2)
2011 Olympic Games London 2012 - Hockey (2)
2011 Olympic Games London 2012 - Judo (0)
2011 Olympic Games London 2012 - Modern Pentathlon (5)
2011 Olympic Games London 2012 - Rowing (0)
2011 Olympic Games London 2012 - Sailing (2)
2011 Olympic Games London 2012 - Shooting (3)
2011 Olympic Games London 2012 - Table Tennis (2)
2011 Olympic Games London 2012 - Taekwondo (2)
2011 Olympic Games London 2012 - Tennis (2)
2011 Olympic Games London 2012 - Triathlon (1)
2011 Olympic Games London 2012 - Volleyball (3)
2011 Olympic Games London 2012 - Weightlifting (2)
2011 Olympic Games London 2012 - Wheelchair Rugby (3)
2011 Olympic Games London 2012 - Wrestling (2)
2011 World Wildlife Fund (7)
2013 Benjamin Britten (12)
2013 Christopher Ironside (68)
2014 Commonwealth Games - Glasgow (25)
2015 Battle of Britain (18)
2016 Battle of Hastings (15)
2016 Beatrix Potter - Birth Anniversary (15)
2016 Beatrix Potter - Jemima Puddle-Duck (3)
2016 Beatrix Potter - Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle (41)
2016 Beatrix Potter - Peter Rabbit (20)
2016 Beatrix Potter - Squirrel Nutkin (26)
2016 Team GB Olympics (24)
2017 Beatrix Potter - Benjamin Bunny (137)
2017 Beatrix Potter - Mr. Jeremy Fisher (31)
2017 Beatrix Potter - The Tale of Peter Rabbit (81)
2017 Beatrix Potter - Tom Kitten (29)
2017 Isaac Newton (2)
2018 Beatrix Potter - Flopsy Bunny (4)
2018 Beatrix Potter - Mrs. Tittlemouse (9)
2018 Beatrix Potter - Peter Rabbit eating a carrot (3)
2018 Beatrix Potter - The Tailor of Gloucester (9)
2018 Paddington Bear - Buckingham Palace (18)
2018 Paddington Bear - Station (18)
2018 People Act (42)
2019 Paddington Bear at St. Paul's Cathedral (64)
2019 Paddington Bear at the Tower of London (32)
2019 Sherlock Holmes (19)
2020 Brexit (87)
2020 Diversity Built Britain (113)
2022 Queen's Platinum Jubilee (41)
2022 50 Years of Pride UK (409) 11 sealed bags (220) from the mint
2022 Life & Legacy of Q.E.II (151) 1 sealed bag (20) from the mint
2023 King Charles III Coronation (16)

also
1973 50 Pence , 'Entry into EEC' (1)
1978 Britannia
1994 D-Day , Normandy Landings (2)
2008 Britannia (3)
2017 Shield (2)
2019 Paddington Bear at St. Paul's Cathedral : with a coloured sticker
2020 Shield (6)
2022 Shield (2) hole filler
CYPRUS 50 Cents 1993 (hole filler)
GIBRALTAR 1997 (2)
GIBRALTAR 2004
GUERNSEY 1997 (4)
GUERNSEY 2003 (1)
GUERNSEY 2008 (1)
GUERNSEY 2012 (1)
ISLE of MAN 1997 (2)
ISLE of MAN 2020 (1)
JERSEY 1997 (1)
JERSEY 1998 (3)
JERSEY 2005 (2)
JERSEY 2006 (1)
JERSEY 2009 (1)
JERSEY 2012 (3)

Out of the possible 73 commemoratives in circulation I managed to get 69 of them in 2023, it just goes to show that they are still out there.
If anybody is wondering what I do with all the coins, I just dump the ordinary ones into a bank but the commemoratives that I take out, I keep some to swap & give away, some to sell on ebay & buy silver US Halves with the profit & the rest I spend through any shops that I buy stuff from. If kids see them in their mum's purse & it starts them collecting it might help keep the hobby alive.(may also help put off a cashless society for a bit longer)
Thanks, Merv

Well done! I haven't had any 2020 or 2022 Shield 50p's yet - just hundreds of brand new BU 2019s...

Very nice!