Description

The Queen’s Neck –

A real Kew Gardens 50p will have a Queen’s head with a neck that ends up pointing at the ‘P’ in ‘Pence’. So if it doesn’t – walk away, pronto.

IRB –

In the neck area of the heads side again, a genuine coin will feature the initials of Ian Rank-Broadley (these are IRB strangely enough). On fake Kews these may have the word ‘COPY’ right beside them or the initials could simply be missing altogether.

The Queen’s Eye and Hair –

Once you have started looking into the differences between real and fake Kews you will quickly realise that 99% of fakes are glaringly obvious. And this next point is a perfect example.

On a duff coin the Queen’s hair will look more like wire wool than anything else and her eye will lack anywhere near enough detail.

The Pagoda –

If you look at a fake Kew Gardens fifty pence you will often notice that the pagoda doesn’t look at all right. Sometimes it will be too skinny or the top will be far too pointy. Again, you will soon get to know….

‘Kew’ –

On genuine coins, the ‘Kew’ writing at the base of the design will vary in its overall clarity; quite similar in a way to the star on the centre of the flag on an NI Commonwealth £2 coin. However, saying all that, it should be visible to a certain degree. But on a lot of dummy Kews it will look far too clear. This can often be another warning sign.

Features
Issuer United Kingdom
Composition Copper-nickel
Weight 8 g
Diameter 27.3 mm
Thickness 1.78 mm
Tracked postage €8