50 Pounds - Elizabeth II 4th portrait, 1/2 oz Fine Platinum

The Britannia platinum series launched in 1997, a decade after the gold Britannia, targeting institutional investors and high-net-worth collectors at a moment when platinum commanded a significant premium over gold. By 2007, spot platinum had climbed above $1,300 per troy ounce — briefly surpassing gold — driven largely by autocatalyst demand from the automotive sector and supply concentration in South Africa and Russia. Mintages for the platinum issues were kept deliberately low, never approaching the volumes of their gold counterparts.

The Spink reference BPC1 confirms this as the first catalogued type in the platinum Britannia half-ounce series.