The inscription ‘THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN’ is written boldly across the centre with the date 1940 placed at the bottom of the coin. The reverse design by Gary Breeze is of three airmen running towards their planes, whilst several more aircraft fly overhead towards them. It was considered to be a key turning point for the allies during the war. During the battle, which took place during World War Two, Britain defended itself from an airborne attack launched by the Germans. The Battle of Britain 50p coin is a key part of any history fan’s collection and was created to commemorate the 75 th anniversary of the event. Accession to the European Economic Community 50p 1973 Surprisingly, they were well received by the public with many people going out of their way to collect the coins to complete the shield’s image. The newspaper Daily Mail launched a campaign known as ‘ Save Britannia’ but despite the uproar, the design change still went ahead and the new Royal Shield 50 pence coins were released in 2008. As the 50p was the last coin to feature this design, the change to the shield meant her figure would no longer be minted. The change to the Royal Shield design was met with objections from the British public as the figure of Britannia had always been featured on at least one UK coin denomination. The idea came from Matthew Dent as part of a winning competition entry. The image of the shield can be completed by collecting one of each of the UK’s standard coin denominations from 1p to 50p that feature the new designs. In 2008, the standard reverse design of the 50p coin was changed to feature the bottom of the Royal Shield.

Collectable 50p coins