2011 Olympic Boccia 50p
The 2011 Olympic Boccia 50p is a circulating 50p with 2.17 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
- 2,166,000
- 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 Boccia 50p worth?
2.17 million were made, so the 2011 Olympic Boccia 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 Boccia 50p rare?
- No. 2.17 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2011 Olympic Boccia 50p coins were made?
- 2,166,000 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 2011 Olympic Boccia 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 Boccia 50p still legal tender?
- Yes. Every 27.3 mm 50p, including commemoratives, is legal tender in the UK.
Why the 2011 Olympic Boccia 50p was made
Boccia is one of the sports found only at the Paralympic Games. It is a target ball game for athletes with severe physical impairments, many of them with cerebral palsy. Players throw, roll or kick leather balls toward a white jack. Athletes who can't propel the ball by hand can use a ramp, directing an assistant who must face away from the court. The aim is simple and the tactics are anything but: whoever finishes closest to the jack scores. Boccia has been on the Paralympic program since 1984.
Including boccia in the 50p series was a quiet but meaningful choice. The Royal Mint covered both the Olympic and the Paralympic Games with its 29 designs. Three of them, Boccia, Goalball and Wheelchair Rugby, show sports that exist only in the Paralympic program. For many people who found this coin in their change, it was the first time they'd heard of the sport. The design came from the public competition the Royal Mint held in 2009. The coin entered circulation as the series rolled out across 2011 and 2012.
How to recognize it
The reverse shows a boccia athlete seated in a wheelchair, focused and ready to deliver the ball. It is an uncluttered design that puts the player's concentration at the heart of the coin, which suits a sport built on precision. Wear tends to show first on the figure's head and arms. The London 2012 emblem appears on the reverse, which is how you confirm it belongs to the Olympic and Paralympic series. On the obverse is Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II with the date 2011. The coin is a normal seven-sided 50p, 27.3 mm across with a plain edge, so it will spend like any other.
The other side carries Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, used from 1998 to 2015.
2011 Olympic Boccia 50p by the numbers
Measured by how many were made, the 2011 Olympic Boccia 50p ranks 32nd lowest of 76 circulating 50p coins with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 2011 Olympic Boxing 50p (2.15 million); the next more common is the 2011 Olympic Canoeing 50p (2.17 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1973 EEC Hands 50p with 89.8 million, about 41 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). 24 of them had a smaller run.
Within the 2011 Olympic and Paralympic set of 29, it ranks 25th scarcest, behind the Football, Wrestling and Judo and others.
What to check on your 2011 Olympic Boccia 50p
- Confirm the design. The reverse should match the Olympic Boccia 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 2,166,000 struck for circulation, Boccia is one of the higher mintages in the series, ranking fifth from the top. It is a face value coin when circulated and not a design you need to chase hard. That said, it's one of the three Paralympic sports in the set, which gives it a little extra interest for people who collect by theme. The Royal Mint also sold the series in collector packs. You can usually tell a pack coin by its bright, even luster, while a coin from circulation shows dull patches and small dings across the figure and field.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 50 pence |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2011 |
| Circulation mintage | 2,166,000 |
| 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
What is the Boccia 50p?
It is one of 29 50p coins issued for London 2012, dated 2011. Boccia is a Paralympic target ball sport. Its coin is one of three in the series showing a sport played only at the Paralympic Games.
How many Boccia 50p coins were made?
The Royal Mint struck 2,166,000 Boccia 50p coins for circulation. That places it among the more common designs in the series, so a circulated example is generally a face value coin.
Mintage figures: Fifty pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.