Check your coins later this year, as the Royal Mint has decided that the previously announced 50p Pride coin will be going into general circulation rather than just being something for collectors to own.
Five million coins will also enter general circulation later this year, making the landmark design accessible to all.
The 50p design, revealed by The Royal Mint last month, features Pride in London’s values of Protest, Visibility, Unity, and Equality in rainbows on the reverse (tails) of the coin. Although 5 million of the Pride 50ps are being made, they’ll still be fairly rare to see in shops, as an average of 46 million coins have been minted each year this century, so good hunting.
(c) Royal Mint
As the 50p coin will be in general circulation, it could, in theory, be used as legal tender — in the very narrow definition that applies to. In essence, if you owe money to someone, while they can offer to accept payment in any form you both agree on, they are required to accept payment if made using legal tender.
This only applies to settling debts, but maybe someone settling a debt to a homophobic person might find a delightful use for the Pride 50p coins.
The collectable 50p will be available to purchase via The Royal Mint website and includes gold, silver, and brilliant uncirculated versions.
The circulated coins should start to appear in your change later this year. Note that the circulated coins will not be coloured, but will be issued in plain metal with the design embossed onto the reverse of the coin.
(c) Royal Mint
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