A highly stabilizing metal‐mediated base pair formed from the canonical nucleobase cytosine (C), the transition metal ion AgI, and the artificial nucleobase 1H‐imidazo[4,5‐f][1,10]phenanthroline (P) was used in the generation of molecular beacons for the detection of medicinally relevant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) based on either a C→T or a T→C transition (T: thymine). The beacons exploit the fact that a P–C pair is strongly stabilized in the presence of AgI, whereas a P–T pair is significantly destabilized. A direct correlation of oligonucleotide sequence, duplex stability prior to the addition of AgI, stabilization due to metal‐mediated base pair formation, and performance of the molecular beacon was not observed. Nonetheless, the data show for the first time that metal‐mediated base pairing can be applied in the detection of medicinally relevant SNPs.