The Jemima Puddle-Duck 50p is highly sought after, and collectors are willing to pay well above face value for the coin.
According to our research, a Jemima Puddle-Duck 50p fetches £8.11 on average on eBay according to the latest values in 2022.
In this article, we’ll take a deep dive into the mintage and other specifications of the coin to see whether this incredibly high value is justified.
Jemima Puddle-Duck 50p Mintage
The official mintage for the Jemima Puddle-Duck 50p was 2,100,000 in 2016.
This very popular coin is part of a series of Royal Mint coins that were first minted in 2016 to celebrate Beatrix Potter’s 150th birthday. Besides the Jemima Puddle-Duck 50p, the same year also brought commemorative coins that featured Beatrix Potter, Peter Rabbit, Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, and Squirrel Nutkin.
Since the series was so popular, it continued for a few more years including more of the Beatrix Potter characters appearing on the 50p coin in 2017 and again in 2018.
Is the Jemima Puddle-Duck 50p Coin Rare?
The exact reason is not clear, but despite not having the lowest mintage amount, the Jemima Puddle-Duck is the most valuable of all Beatrix Potter series coins.
If you look at mintage figures alone, the 2018 Peter Rabbit, Mrs Tittlemouse and Flopsy Bunny 50p coins all have a smaller amount.
Despite this, the Jemima-Puddle Duck coin sells for the most. One reason for this is likely that the coin was released in 2016, which meant it had two more years of circulation and therefore more time for collectors to remove a large proportion from circulation.
Other Versions Of The Coin
The Royal Mint issued several uncirculated versions of the Jemima Puddle-Duck 50p, which are summarised in the table below.
| Version | Mintage |
| Brilliant Uncirculated | 138,937 |
| Silver Proof | 15,921 |
Interestingly, no gold-proof version of the coin was issued.
Design and Meaning Behind the Jemima Puddle-Duck 50p
Based on yet another of Beatrix Potter’s children’s tales, the Jemima Puddle-Duck 50p, issued in 2016, shows the character of Jemima Puddle-Duck with the inscription “Jemima Puddle-Duck” towards the top of the coin.
First published in 1908, the Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck has been hugely successful ever since its release. Like the others in the series, the Jemima Puddle Duck 50p coin was designed by Emma Noble. It was issued in 2016 and features the loved Beatrix Potter character of Jemima Puddle-Duck.
Jemima Puddle-Duck is a very silly duck who is friendly but foolish and self-important. She is illustrated in Beatrix Potter’s books as a white duck wearing a blue poke bonnet and pink shawl. She is the lead character in the book, The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck.
Obverse Design
The Obverse design is that of Queen Elizabeth II designed by Jody Clark.
At the age of 33, Jody Clark was the youngest person to design the monarch’s profile on this currency. Jody Clark was also the first Royal Mint employee to create 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 The Queen in circulation.
Reverse Design
The reverse side features an image of Jemima Puddle-Duck. The duck is large and centred, facing to the left on the coin. The words JEMIMA PUDDLE-DUCK arch near the edge of the coin over her head. The initials “en” in lowercase are seen in the lower left-side, the duck’s right. They are the initials of the designer Emma Noble.
The designer Emma Noble had designed the 2015 coins to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Beatrix Potter. When the Royal Mint issued additional Beatrix Potter coins in 2016, Emma Noble was again chosen to design them. Her designs were eventually seen again on 2017 and 2018 coins in the series. Her designs were also featured on the 2019 collector edition Peter Rabbit coin.
Emma Noble had worked at the Royal Mint for 20 years before she was chosen to design the Beatrix Potter series of coins. She had previously worked on pieces commemorating the Diamond Jubilee and Remembrance Sunday.
Who Was Beatrix Potter?
Though she had no children of her own, Beatrix Potter became a famous writer of children’s books. Her famous books included a much-loved character named Peter Rabbit. She also had a love for science, land preservation, and watercolour painting. Her full name was Helen Beatrix Potter.
In the 1890s, she and her brother started printing Christmas cards using their own designs. Many of the cards featured mice and rabbits. In 1890, a printing firm bought several of her drawings of a rabbit she had dubbed Benjamin Bunny to illustrate verses in A Happy Pair.
After seeing how successful her drawings were, she decided to publish her own illustrations and stories. She had written letters to her governess’ child and came up with a story about four rabbits named Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail, and Peter. In 1900 she revised this story to the tales that made her famous.
Before she married later in life at the age of 47, this author self-published her first of thirty books in 1902. Jemima Puddle-Duck was one of the book’s characters but was not introduced until 1908.
