2011 Olympic Equestrian 50p
The 2011 Olympic Equestrian 50p is a circulating 50p with 2.14 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
- 2,142,500
- 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 Equestrian 50p worth?
2.14 million were made, so the 2011 Olympic Equestrian 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 Equestrian 50p rare?
- No. 2.14 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2011 Olympic Equestrian 50p coins were made?
- 2,142,500 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 2011 Olympic Equestrian 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 Equestrian 50p still legal tender?
- Yes. Every 27.3 mm 50p, including commemoratives, is legal tender in the UK.
Why the 2011 Olympic Equestrian 50p was made
Equestrian sport at the Olympics has three disciplines: dressage, eventing and jumping. It is also one of the very few Olympic sports where men and women compete against each other on equal terms. At London 2012 the competition was held in Greenwich Park, with a temporary arena set against the backdrop of the Royal Naval College and the city skyline. Britain had its best Games in the sport for decades. The jumping team won gold for the first time since 1952 and Charlotte Dujardin won individual dressage gold on Valegro.
The Equestrian 50p is part of the series of 29 coins the Royal Mint issued for London 2012. Members of the public submitted the designs through a competition held in 2009. The winning entries were struck with a 2011 date and released into change through 2011 and 2012. Equestrian sits in the top third of the series for mintage. It's a design that tends to appeal to people who ride, since horses are a less common sight on circulating British coins than you might expect.
How to recognize it
The reverse shows a horse and rider in midair, the horse stretching forward as it clears a fence with its rider balanced in the saddle above. The animal dominates the design, so it's the easiest thing to look for if you're sorting through a handful of 50ps. Few designs in the set give an animal such a central role. The London 2012 emblem also appears on the reverse. On the obverse is Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II and the date 2011, shared by every coin in the series. Physically it is the same as any other 50p of the period: seven-sided, 27.3 mm in diameter, with a plain edge.
The other side carries Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, used from 1998 to 2015.
2011 Olympic Equestrian 50p by the numbers
By the numbers, the 2011 Olympic Equestrian 50p ranks 30th lowest of 76 circulating 50p coins with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 2011 Olympic Volleyball 50p (2.13 million); the next more common is the 2011 Olympic Boxing 50p (2.15 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1973 EEC Hands 50p with 89.8 million, about 42 times as many. The scarcest is the 1992 Single Market 50p with 109,000, 20 times fewer than this one.
It shared 2011 with 29 other circulating 50p designs, from the Olympic Football (1.13 million) up to the WWF (3.4 million). 22 of them had a smaller run.
Within the 2011 Olympic and Paralympic set of 29, it ranks 23rd scarcest, behind the Football, Wrestling and Judo and others.
What to check on your 2011 Olympic Equestrian 50p
- Confirm the design. The reverse should match the Olympic Equestrian 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 2,142,500 struck for circulation, Equestrian is one of the higher mintages in the Olympic series and a face value coin in circulated condition. You'll find it without much effort. The horse's head and legs are the highest points of the design, so those wear first and are the best place to judge condition. The Royal Mint also offered the Olympic designs in collector packs. Those coins keep a bright, frosted finish with sharp detail on the horse's mane and the rider, which makes them easy to separate from coins that have been through the tills.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 50 pence |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2011 |
| Circulation mintage | 2,142,500 |
| 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 does the Equestrian 50p show?
It shows a horse and rider clearing a jump, along with the London 2012 emblem. The other side has Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II and the date 2011, which appears on all 29 coins in the series.
Is the Equestrian 50p hard to find?
Far from it. The Royal Mint struck 2,142,500 for circulation, so it is one of the more common designs in the Olympic set. A circulated example is generally a face value coin and turns up in change fairly often.
Mintage figures: Fifty pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.