50 Pence - Elizabeth II 4th portrait Aquatics, 2nd issue (2011)

About the 2011 50 Pence - Elizabeth II – Aquatics, 2nd issue

The 2011 50 Pence - Elizabeth II – Aquatics, 2nd issue is a circulating 50 pence coin in the Olympic 50p (2011) series, struck in copper-nickel. It weighs 8g and measures 27.3mm across. Reverse design: Swimmer submerged in water, London 2012 logo above, denomination below.

2,179,000 were struck.

Common questions

History and design

The Aquatics 50p is one of 29 designs issued for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, one for each sport, chosen through a design competition open to the public. All of them are dated 2011. This is the normal version of the coin, sometimes called the second issue because the design was revised after production had begun.

The Royal Mint's figures give a circulating mintage of 2,179,000. That is the third highest of the 29: only Archery (3,345,500) and Athletics (2,224,000) are higher, and Canoeing (2,166,500) sits just below. It is close to double the 1,125,500 of the Football coin, the lowest in the series.

The reverse was designed by Jonathan Olliffe, a silversmith. It shows a swimmer partway beneath the surface of the water, with the London 2012 logo above and 50 PENCE below. The official description in the royal proclamation is simply "a swimmer submerged in water".

Olliffe told the Royal Mint Museum he entered because the subject was difficult: "the aquatics one was a challenge because of creating the illusion of water on a coin." He worked from books, old images and many sketches of swimmers in different positions, and settled on engraved lines to suggest the flow of water, an approach he linked to his background as a silversmith.

On this version the swimmer's face is free of those lines. Olliffe also designed the Gymnastics coin in the series and has since worked with the Royal Mint on bullion designs, including the 2023 Britannia.

The obverse carries the fourth portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by Ian Rank-Broadley, in which she wears the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara. The edge is plain.

Varieties and errors

One variety is documented, and it is catalogued on its own page: the first issue Aquatics 50p, on which water ripple lines cross the swimmer's face. The Royal Mint Museum says the design was changed very early in production because the lines obscured it too much, and that only a small number of the original coins were issued.

Scratches across the face of a normal coin are damage, not the first issue. Check Your Change warns that normal coins have had lines scratched in to pass them off as the scarce version.

Collecting notes

Start with the swimmer's face. If it is clear, the coin is this normal issue, which is what almost every example is.

On a circulated coin the fine water lines are the first detail to soften, so look for an example where they are still distinct across the whole design.

The coin was struck for general circulation and can still be found in change, though the Royal Mint notes that many examples have been taken out of circulation. Olliffe's other coin in the series is the Gymnastics 50p.