Spain 50 Centimos 1949

Hello Snoopy --

This is the kind of coin that gets collector juices flowing. Even though it is modern, and even though it is made of zero-value copper nickel, this coin has a lot of collector appeal. Why? Here's the explanation.

First, the 1949 Spanish 50 centimos has a killer design. It is very artistic and sports the hole in the middle, making it somewhat unusual. Even with this design, typical catalog values are quite low:

COMMON COINS:
worn: less than $1 US dollar approximate catalog value
average circulated: $2
well preserved: $5
fully uncirculated: $15

Second, there is a variation in the design that can make the coin much more valuable. There arrows on the shields side can point either up or down. Up arrows are common; down arrows are rare. So if you scour your collection for down arrows, you will be happy when you find one:

1949 50 CENTIMOS WITH DOWN ARROWS:
worn: $5
average circulated: $10
well preserved: $20
fully uncirculated: $40

Third, there are good dates in the series. But that takes a little explaining.

Like most Spanish coins, two dates appear. The main date, 1949 in this case, is the date of authorization, i.e., when the coin was authorized to enter legal circulation. The second date is called the date of issue, i.e., when the coin was actually produced by the Spanish mint. This date appears in tiny numbers inside the small stars on the ESPANA side. You will probably need a magnifier to see them. The coin in our secondary picture is issue dated 1956, with a tiny '19' showing in one star and a tiny '56' in the other.

Here are the two good dates:

1949 50 CENTIMOS '19' IN FIRST STAR, '63' IN SECOND STAR
worn: $3
average circulated: $7
well preserved: $15
fully uncirculated: $45

1949 50 CENTIMOS 'E' IN FIRST STAR, '51' IN SECOND STAR
worn: $50
average circulated: $100
well preserved: $400
fully uncirculated: $600

As always on CoinQuest, these are catalog values which must be adjusted to obtain actual buy and sell values. See our Terminology page.
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