2011 Olympic Football 50p
The 2011 Olympic Football 50p is a circulating 50p with 1.13 million made. Value band: small premium. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2011
- Circulation mintage
- 1,125,500
- Value band
- Small premium
- 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 Football 50p worth?
At 1.13 million, the 2011 Olympic Football 50p has a smaller run than most 50p coins, so collectors pay a small premium for it, especially in uncirculated condition. Well circulated examples sit close to face value.
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 Football 50p rare?
- It is scarcer than most 50p coins. Collectors pay a small premium for good examples.
- How many 2011 Olympic Football 50p coins were made?
- 1,125,500 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 2011 Olympic Football 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 Football 50p still legal tender?
- Yes. Every 27.3 mm 50p, including commemoratives, is legal tender in the UK.
Why the 2011 Olympic Football 50p was made
Great Britain won the first two official Olympic football tournaments, in 1908 and 1912, but by 2012 the country hadn't entered a men's team since 1960. Hosting the Games changed that. Britain fielded a men's team built mostly around under-23 players with a few older additions, as Olympic rules allow, plus a women's team for the first time ever. The women's tournament actually opened London 2012, with matches in Cardiff two days before the opening ceremony. Games were spread across grounds in England, Scotland and Wales, ending with both finals at Wembley.
The Football 50p is the coin in the Olympic series that people ask about most. Its design came from Neil Wolfson, a member of the public who entered the Royal Mint's 2009 competition. Rather than show a player striking a ball, he took a teaching approach and used the coin to explain the offside rule, one of the most argued over laws in the game. It was released into change with the other sports during 2011 and 2012. It also ended up with the lowest circulation mintage of all 29 designs, which is why it is the one collectors look for first.
How to recognize it
The reverse is a diagram of play rather than a picture. Simple shapes stand in for players, with lines tracing the ball and the movement of the attackers to show when a player is offside. It looks more like a coach's tactics board than a sports illustration, which makes it unlike anything else in the set. The reverse carries the London 2012 emblem as well, linking it to the rest of the set. On the obverse you'll find Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II and the date 2011. Like every 50p of its day, it is seven-sided, 27.3 mm across and plain edged. Neil Wolfson 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 Football 50p by the numbers
By the numbers, the 2011 Olympic Football 50p ranks 3rd lowest of 76 circulating 50p coins with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 2009 Kew Gardens 50p (210,000); the next more common is the 2011 Olympic Wrestling 50p (1.13 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1973 EEC Hands 50p with 89.8 million, about 80 times as many. The scarcest is the 1992 Single Market 50p with 109,000, 10 times fewer than this one.
It shared 2011 with 29 other circulating 50p designs, from the Olympic Wrestling (1.13 million) up to the WWF (3.4 million). The 2011 Olympic Football 50p was the scarcest of the year.
Within the 2011 Olympic and Paralympic set of 29, it ranks 1st scarcest.
What to check on your 2011 Olympic Football 50p
- Confirm the design. The reverse should match the Olympic Football 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 1,125,500 struck for circulation, Football has the lowest mintage of the 29 Olympic designs, just ahead of Wrestling. That's still more than a million coins, so plenty are out there, but demand is high because nobody can complete the set without one. Collectors pay a small premium for clean examples and more for coins in true uncirculated condition. The Royal Mint also issued the design in collector packs. Those coins have untouched luster, while one from change shows wear on the fine lines of the diagram. Thin, shallow lines are a weak spot, so check them carefully.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 50 pence |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2011 |
| Circulation mintage | 1,125,500 |
| 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
Why is the Football 50p the rarest Olympic 50p?
It simply had the smallest circulation mintage: 1,125,500 coins, the lowest of the 29 designs. That is only slightly fewer than Wrestling, but its position at the bottom of the list makes it the coin set builders chase hardest.
What is the diagram on the Football 50p?
It explains the offside rule. Shapes represent the players and lines trace the ball and the attackers' runs, showing when a player is caught offside. It was designed by Neil Wolfson through the Royal Mint's public competition.
Mintage figures: Fifty pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.