2011 Olympic Athletics 50p
The 2011 Olympic Athletics 50p is a circulating 50p with 2.22 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2011
- Circulation mintage
- 2,224,000
- Value band
- Face value
- Composition
- Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel)
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 2011 Olympic Athletics 50p worth?
2.22 million were made, so the 2011 Olympic Athletics 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 2011 Olympic Athletics 50p rare?
- No. 2.22 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2011 Olympic Athletics 50p coins were made?
- 2,224,000 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 2011 Olympic Athletics 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 2011 Olympic Athletics 50p still legal tender?
- Yes. Every 27.3 mm 50p, including commemoratives, is legal tender in the UK.
Why the 2011 Olympic Athletics 50p was made
Athletics is the core of any Olympic Games. London 2012 gave Britain one of its most remembered evenings in the sport. On 4 August, inside the Olympic Stadium at Stratford, Jessica Ennis won the heptathlon, Greg Rutherford won the long jump and Mo Farah won the 10,000 meters, all within roughly an hour. People still call it Super Saturday. The sport spans track running, jumps, throws, combined events and road races. It has been part of every modern Games since 1896.
The Athletics 50p has a different origin from the rest of the series. Most of the 29 designs came from the Royal Mint's 2009 public competition, which drew entries from adults and children alike. The Athletics design instead came out of a separate competition for children run with a television program, won by a schoolgirl named Florence Jackson. Her high jumper became one of the most widely seen designs of the set. It went into change along with the other sports as the series was released through 2011 and 2012.
How to recognize it
The reverse shows a high jumper arching back over the bar, body curved in the style that has dominated the event since the late 1960s. The figure is simple and bold, which makes sense for a design drawn by a child. It also has a sense of lift that works well on a small coin. Look for the London 2012 emblem on the reverse to confirm it belongs to the Olympic series. The obverse shows Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II and the date 2011. The coin is a standard seven-sided 50p, 27.3 mm across with a plain edge. Florence Jackson is credited with the design.
The other side carries Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, used from 1998 to 2015.
2011 Olympic Athletics 50p by the numbers
Measured by how many were made, the 2011 Olympic Athletics 50p ranks 35th lowest of 76 circulating 50p coins with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 2011 Olympic Aquatics 50p (2.18 million); the next more common is the 2003 Suffragettes 50p (3.12 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1973 EEC Hands 50p with 89.8 million, about 40 times as many. The scarcest is the 1992 Single Market 50p with 109,000, 20 times fewer than this one.
2011 brought 29 other circulating 50p designs, from the Olympic Football (1.13 million) up to the WWF (3.4 million). 27 of them had a smaller run.
Within the 2011 Olympic and Paralympic set of 29, it ranks 28th scarcest, behind the Football, Wrestling and Judo and others.
What to check on your 2011 Olympic Athletics 50p
- Confirm the design. The reverse should match the Olympic Athletics described above and carry the date 2011; 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.
With 2,224,000 struck for circulation, Athletics has the second highest mintage in the series, behind only Archery. That makes it an easy coin to find and a face value piece in circulated condition. The story gives it a little extra appeal. It's a popular coin to give to children starting a collection for exactly that reason. Royal Mint collector packs included the Olympic designs too. A pack coin shows clean, unbroken luster, while one from change will show wear on the jumper's body and small marks across the open field. Pick the best one you find.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 50 pence |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2011 |
| Circulation mintage | 2,224,000 |
| Composition | Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel) |
| Weight | 8.0 g |
| Diameter | 27.3 mm |
| Shape | Seven-sided (equilateral curve heptagon) |
| Edge | Plain |
| Portrait | Rank-Broadley |
Other 2011 50p coins
Frequently asked questions
Who designed the Athletics 50p?
The design is credited to Florence Jackson, a schoolgirl who won a children's competition to design a coin for the London 2012 series. Her entry shows a high jumper clearing the bar and was the only design in the set chosen that way.
Is the Athletics 50p worth keeping?
It is one of the commonest Olympic designs, with 2,224,000 struck for circulation, so a worn one is a face value coin. It's still worth keeping if you're building the set. A sharp example makes a good starter coin.
Mintage figures: Fifty pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.