2004 Roger Bannister 50p
The 2004 Roger Bannister 50p is a circulating 50p with 9.03 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2004
- Circulation mintage
- 9,032,500
- Value band
- Face value
- Designer
- James Butler
Original illustration of the coin's shape and metal. Tap to flip. Not a picture of the actual design.
Face value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is a 2004 Roger Bannister 50p worth?
9.03 million were made, so the 2004 Roger Bannister 50p is easy to find. A circulated one is worth face value; collectors pay a little more only for uncirculated coins and coins still in their original Royal Mint pack.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with no scratches or contact marks
- Original Royal Mint pack or presentation folder
- A genuine mint error, confirmed by an expert
For market prices, look at recent sold results for the same coin in the same condition, not asking prices.
Quick answers
- Is the 2004 Roger Bannister 50p rare?
- No. 9.03 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2004 Roger Bannister 50p coins were made?
- 9,032,500 were struck for circulation.
- Who designed the 2004 Roger Bannister 50p?
- The design is credited to James Butler.
- What is the 2004 Roger Bannister 50p made of?
- Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel). It weighs 8.0 g and measures 27.3 mm, with a seven-sided (equilateral curve heptagon) shape.
- Is the 2004 Roger Bannister 50p still legal tender?
- Yes. Every 27.3 mm 50p, including commemoratives, is legal tender in the UK.
Why the 2004 Roger Bannister 50p was made
On 6 May 1954, at the Iffley Road track in Oxford, Roger Bannister became the first person to run a mile in under four minutes, finishing in 3 minutes 59.4 seconds. He was a medical student at the time and two fellow runners, Chris Brasher and Chris Chataway, paced him through the race. The four-minute barrier had been talked about for years as something close to impossible and the news made headlines around the world. The record stood for only 46 days before John Landy of Australia lowered it.
Bannister went on to a long career as a neurologist and was knighted in 1975. He lived to see this coin issued and died in 2018. The Royal Mint marked the 50th anniversary of his run in 2004 with a 50p designed by the sculptor James Butler. Just over 9 million were struck for circulation. It is one of the most recognizable sporting designs on a British coin, largely because it shows no face at all, only the moving legs of a runner. Runners and athletics clubs took to it straight away.
How to recognize it
Bold and simple, the reverse shows a running athlete's legs in mid stride, with a stylized stopwatch face behind them and the value 50 PENCE below. There is no name and no anniversary date on that side, which surprises people the first time they see it, so the running legs are your clue. The year 2004 is with the Queen's portrait by Ian Rank-Broadley on the obverse. It is the modern 27.3 mm size, edge plain. Nothing else in the 50p series looks like it and the stopwatch is a neat touch for anyone who knows the story. James Butler, a sculptor known for figures and memorials, designed the reverse.
The other side carries Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, used from 1998 to 2015.
2004 Roger Bannister 50p by the numbers
In mintage terms the 2004 Roger Bannister 50p ranks 63rd lowest of 76 circulating 50p coins with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 2019 Paddington at St Paul's 50p (9 million); the next more common is the 2017 Tom Kitten 50p (9.5 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1973 EEC Hands 50p with 89.8 million, about 9.9 times as many. The scarcest is the 1992 Single Market 50p with 109,000, 83 times fewer than this one.
It was the only circulating commemorative 50p dated 2004. The regular Britannia reverse accounted for another 35.3 million that year.
What to check on your 2004 Roger Bannister 50p
- Confirm the design. The reverse should match the Roger Bannister described above and carry the date 2004; similar designs from other years are a common mix-up.
- Weigh it if you can: a genuine 27.3 mm 50p weighs 8.0 g. Copies are often light, slightly soft in detail or the wrong color.
- Ignore painted or colored versions sold online as special editions. Color added after the coin left the Mint does not make it a Royal Mint issue and does not add collector value.
- Look at the surfaces under a bright light. Coins straight from a pack have unbroken luster; change-worn coins show scuffs on the high points of the portrait and design.
Over 9 million circulation coins make the Bannister 50p a common find, so worn examples are face value coins. It is still popular, especially with runners and sports fans. An uncirculated coin with crisp muscle detail in the legs and a clear stopwatch makes a nice keepsake. The raised legs are the high point of the design and wear first, so compare them with the flat field around them. If the calf muscles have blended into one smooth shape, the coin has seen plenty of use.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 50 pence |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2004 |
| Circulation mintage | 9,032,500 |
| Composition | Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel) |
| Weight | 8.0 g |
| Diameter | 27.3 mm |
| Shape | Seven-sided (equilateral curve heptagon) |
| Edge | Plain |
| Designer | James Butler |
| Portrait | Rank-Broadley |
Frequently asked questions
Why is there a pair of legs on a 50p?
The 2004 50p celebrates the 50th anniversary of Roger Bannister's mile, run in 3 minutes 59.4 seconds on 6 May 1954. The legs represent a runner in full stride and the stopwatch behind them stands for the four-minute barrier he broke.
Who designed the Roger Bannister 50p?
The sculptor James Butler designed the reverse. The coin carries no name on the running side, so collectors identify it by the legs and the stopwatch. Over 9 million were struck for circulation in 2004.
Mintage figures: Fifty pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.