Olympic 50p
A selection of UK Olympic Fifty Pence Coins to fill the gaps in your collection. The perfect way to start collecting is now here – with the Great British Coin Hunt from The Royal Mint. Your album has been designed to house the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games 50p coins you can find in circulation, decorated with some sports you’ll see on the coins like Rowing, Javelin, Handball and even Cycling! Among the extensive array of 50p coins released into circulation by the Royal Mint, the designs minted ahead of the London Olympics are among the most recognisable. Released in 2011, the 29 coins celebrate a wide range of sports, and some of the coins were issued in small enough mintages to make them valuable to collectors. In 2009, nine-year old Florence Jackson became the youngest person to design a coin for circulation in the UK. Her Athletics Olympic 50p design was the ultimate winner of a Blue Peter competition and her creation featuring an athlete midway through a high-jump can be now be found in our change up and down the country. The 30th Olympic 50p In the lead up to the 2012 Olympic Games, 29 million Olympic 50p coins were released into circulation across 29 different designs – 1 for each Olympic sport. Remarkably the Royal Mint estimated that 75% of those coins were removed from circulation as collectors clamoured to complete the collection, with many coins like.
In 2012, 29 50p coins were released to commemorate the London Olympics and millions rose to the challenge of collecting them all. For many, this marked the start of their interest in coins.
The Royal Mint now estimates that as many as 75% of the Olympic 50p coins have been removed from circulation by collectors, which is a testament to their popularity.
Do you own the rarest Olympic 50p?
Olympic 50ps have long been a favourite amongst collectors, but did you know that only 1,125,500 Football fifty pence pieces entered circulation? It’s definitely the rarest one to look out for and tops our chart as having the smallest mintage figures, which means it is even harder to find than the others.
Although the Football 50p narrowly holds the title of the rarest sport in the series, there were still over one millionof those struck for circulation. To hold the honourable title as “rare”, we must look beyond the official Royal Mint circulation figures…
Olympic 50p Swimming
The withdrawn Aquatics ‘error’ Olympic 50p
The Aquatics 50p design was modified to make the swimmer more visible.
The Aquatics 50p which we are familiar with today is actually a modified version which removed the waves passing over the swimmer’s face.
Despite the original design being adapted early on – there are still a few of the original coins in circulation.
Although the exact quantity of the original Aquatics design remains a mystery, we know it’s not unusual for these special coins to exchange hands for close to £1000… not a bad return on a 50p coin!
2009 Athletics Olympic 50p
In 2009, nine-year old Florence Jackson became the youngest person to design a coin for circulation in the UK. Her Athletics Olympic 50p design was the ultimate winner of a Blue Peter competition.
Although you may recognise this coin, you may not know that a rare version of this coin exists.When the competition winner was revealed, only 100,000 special edition Blue Peter coin packs were released with a 2009 dated coin – making it the only Olympic 50p without a 2011 date.
That makes this 2009 Athletics Olympic 50p more than twice as rare as the famous Kew Gardens 50p.
The rarest of the series
A gold version of each design was presented to the respective artist
It is without doubt that the gold versions of each 50p remain the rarest of the collection.
Unfortunately for collectors, obtaining one of these is nearly impossible as only one gold version of each design was presented to the respective winning designer.
Aside from the precious metal content, their unique status and significance rank them as potentially the most valuable UK 50p coins in existence.
Is this the 30th Olympic 50p?
To the delight of many Olympic 50p collectors, in 2016 The Royal Mint issued a special 50p to wish Team GB success for the Rio Games.
The coin’s obverse features a swimmer with the Team GB logo, the Olympic rings and the inscription ‘TEAM GB’. Designed by Tim Sharp, the coin has been officially endorsed by Team GB and celebrates the spirit of British Olympians – a must have for all Olympic 50p Collectors.
Complete your 50p collection
Do you still have coins missing from your Olympic 50p collection?
It’s time for your latest Scarcity Index update, where we’ll reveal the UK’s most sought-after circulation coins of the last three months! And it’s all change again for the 50ps this quarter, as one coin drops a huge 15 places!
With less cash being used because of the current climate, it’s likely this is affecting collecting and it seems this has exposed some new trends on the indexes!
You can use the updated A-Z 10p, 50p and £2 indexes below to discover how sought-after the coins in your collection really are.
This information has been compiled using data from the Change Checker Swap Centre and presented in the easy to use indexes below, with arrows to signify how many places up or down a coin has moved since the last Scarcity Index.
A-Z 10p Scarcity Index
Well we’ve seen another big mix up for the latest A-Z 10p Scarcity Index update, with our biggest climber, M for Mackintosh, jumping up a huge 12 places!
In our last Scarcity Index, we saw the Tea 10p take the top spot for the first time and it’s retained its title this quarter, closely followed by Y for Yeoman Warder.
Other big movers include the H for Houses of Parliament and F for Fish and Chips, both moving down 16 places towards the bottom of the index.
Regardless of where they feature on the above index, if you have any of the A-Z 10ps in your collection you should consider yourself lucky, as they are particularly hard to come by in circulation and each design has a relatively low mintage (just 220,000 of each design released in 2018 and 2.1 million overall in 2019).
50p Scarcity Index
Previously the Football 50p had held second spot behind the most sought-after 50p in circulation, the Kew Gardens, but we saw it drop last quarter, and this Index, it’s similar story! The Judo, Triathlon and Wrestling 50ps have now all bumped the Football 50p to fifth spot.
This update sees a huge jump for Taekwondo, jumping up 11 places and landing it in our top 10. There are big changes for the Wheelchair Rugby and Athletics 50ps too, dropping 15 and 11 respectively.
Since our last Scarcity Index update, we’ve seen the 2018 Peter Rabbitdrop 3 places but the 2018 Flopsy Bunny 50p has jumped up 2 spots. As the two rarest Beatrix Potter 50ps in circulation, it’s interesting to see them shuffle once more. These coins are definitely the ones to watch…
£2 Scarcity Index
For the first time in recent updates, the Commonwealth Games coins have been disrupted at the top of the index. The Olympic Handover has bumped the Commonwealth Games Wales £2 out of the top 4, moving up a place.
As for the rest of the index, there’s been a substantial amount of reshuffling. The Shakespeare Tragedies has dropped 11 places, whilst the First World War (Navy) is up 3!
After the announcement that there are no plans to issue any £2 coins into circulation for the next 10 years, it’s likely we’ll see a further shuffle to the £2 Index over the next few quarters.
How your Scarcity Index works
Generally collectors have had to rely upon mintage figures to identify the scarcest coins. But they only tell part of the story. Trying to find a good quality coin from 15 – 20 years ago, even for a higher mintage issue, is much more challenging than a more recent issue, as coins become damaged over time and are ultimately removed from circulation.
Additionally, some designs are more hoarded than others by people who might not normally collect coins – the poignant First World War £2 Coin series being an example. Finally, it can be up to a couple of years before the Royal Mint eventually confirms the actual mintage for an issue.
That’s why we have combined the mintage information with two other key pieces of information.
- How many of each design are listed as “collected” by Change Checkers, indicating the relative ease of finding a particular coin.
- The number of times a design has been requested as a swap over the previous 3 months, showing the current level of collector demand.
Importantly, as new coins are released and popularity rises and falls across different designs the Scarcity Index will be updated quarterly allowing Change Checkers to track the relative performance of the UK’s circulation coins.
How much are my coins worth?
The Scarcity Index does not necessarily equate to value but it is certainly an effective indicator. For example, the Kew Gardens 50p coin commands a premium of up to 200 times face value on eBay.
You can use the 6 point guide to help you determine a more realistic value for your coins.
Olympic 50p Coins
What about £1 Coins?
Olympic 50p Rare
The £1 Scarcity Index has already been published for the Round £1 coins and, because they are no longer being issued, this is now set in stone.
Secure the Ultimate A-Z 10p Collector’s Kit to your collection!
Olympic 50p Value List
The 2018 UK A-Z 10p Collector’s Kit gives you everything you need to collect, display, and protect your collection of A-Z 10p coins as you find them in your change.