Uncommon: fewer than 10,000,000 minted. Sells often: 40 verified sales in the last 12 months.
50 Pence - Elizabeth II 4th portrait Four Minute Mile (2004)
"Roger Bannister 50p"
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Year | 2004 |
| Denomination | 50 Pence |
| Face value | 50p |
| Mintage | 9,032,500 |
| Mint | Royal Mint · Llantrisant |
| Circulation | Circulating |
| Composition | Copper-nickel |
| Weight | 8.000g |
| Diameter | 27.3mm |
| Thickness | 1.70mm |
| Shape | Equilateral curve heptagon (7-sided) |
| Edge | Plain |
| Orientation | Medal alignment ↑↑ |
| Obv. artist | Ian Rank-Broadley |
| Rev. artist | James Butler |
| Grade scale | UK (EF/UNC) |
Fourth crowned portrait of Queen Elizabeth II right, wearing the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara, legend around.
ELIZABETH · II · D · G REG · F · D · 2004
The legs of a running athlete with a stylised stopwatch in the background, denomination below.
50 PENCE
Four Minute Mile 50p market value
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AffiliateFour Minute Mile 50p price history
Daily limit reachedFour Minute Mile 50p value by grade
Realised auction prices · ⭐ Pro Expand rows for individual sale records| Grade | Latest | Median | 30d Δ | All-time range | Sales (1yr) | Total sales | Last sale | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UNC | £4.59 🔒 eBay | £4.59 (1) | – | £4.59 – £4.59 | 1 | 1 | 09-10-2026 | |
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| BU | £11.99 🔒 eBay | £9.54 | – | £6.52 – £21.49 | 11 | 11 | 02-09-2026 | |
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| VF | £6.52 🔒 eBay | £2.12 | – | £0.63 – £14.00 | 28 | 31 | 11-10-2026 | |
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About the 2004 50 Pence - Elizabeth II – Four Minute Mile
The 2004 50 Pence - Elizabeth II – Four Minute Mile is a circulating 50 pence coin, struck in copper-nickel. It weighs 8g and measures 27.3mm across. Reverse design: The legs of a running athlete with a stylised stopwatch in the background, denomination below.
9,032,500 were struck.
Common questions
How much is the 2004 50 Pence - Elizabeth II – Four Minute Mile worth?
Verified sold prices for the 2004 50 Pence - Elizabeth II – Four Minute Mile run from £2.12 to £9.54 across 3 grades, taking the median for each grade. Condition makes the difference, so check the grade table above before pricing one.
How many Roger Bannister 50p coins were made?
The Royal Mint's mintage figures give 9,032,500 struck for circulation, all dated 2004. The Britannia 50p of the same date had 35,315,500. Brilliant Uncirculated, silver and gold versions were sold to collectors separately and are not included.
Is the 2004 Roger Bannister 50p rare?
No. With 9,032,500 struck it sits in the middle of its group: of the eleven commemorative 50p designs dated 1998 to 2010 in the Royal Mint's figures, six have lower mintages and four have higher. It still turns up in change.
Who designed the four-minute mile 50p?
The sculptor James Butler designed the reverse, which shows the legs of a running athlete against a stylised stopwatch with 50 PENCE below. The obverse has Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, used on 50p coins from 1998 to 2015.
What does the Roger Bannister 50p commemorate?
It marks the 50th anniversary of the first mile run in under four minutes. Roger Bannister set the record on 6 May 1954 at the Iffley Road track in Oxford, finishing in three minutes and 59.4 seconds.
Is the 2019 Roger Bannister 50p the same coin?
No. The design was reissued dated 2019, with Jody Clark's portrait of the Queen, in the British Culture set marking 50 years of the 50p. Those coins were sold to collectors. The Royal Mint's circulating figures list only the 2004 coin.
How do I identify the 2004 50 Pence - Elizabeth II – Four Minute Mile?
Check the weight 8g and diameter 27.3mm and the metal (copper-nickel) against the specification table on this page. The reverse design is described above.
History and design
The Roger Bannister 50p was issued in 2004, fifty years after the first mile run in under four minutes. Bannister broke the barrier on 6 May 1954 at the Iffley Road track in Oxford, crossing the line in three minutes and 59.4 seconds in front of about 3,000 spectators.
The royal proclamation setting out the design came into force on 9 October 2003. The coin was struck for general circulation, and the Royal Mint's figures give 9,032,500, alongside 35,315,500 Britannia 50p coins of the same date.
That places it mid-table for its era. Of the eleven commemorative 50p designs dated 1998 to 2010 in the Royal Mint's figures, six were struck in smaller numbers and four in larger.
The sculptor James Butler designed the reverse. The official description is short: the legs of a running athlete with a stylised stopwatch in the background, and the value 50 PENCE below. Only the athlete's legs are shown, so the coin is about the stride and the clock, not a portrait of the runner.
The proclamation's description includes no name, date or anniversary wording on the reverse. The year appears on the obverse only, after the royal titles.
The obverse carries the portrait of the Queen by Ian Rank-Broadley, used on 50p coins from 1998 to 2015, with his initials IRB below. The proclamation specifies a plain edge.
Collecting notes
This is a current-size 50p (27.3mm, 8g) and remains legal tender, so it can still be found in change. When choosing an example, check that the detail of the stopwatch behind the legs is still clear.
The Royal Mint's sales figures for 2004 list 10,371 Brilliant Uncirculated coins, 4,924 silver proofs against a limit of 15,000, 4,054 silver piedforts against a limit of 7,500 and 644 gold proofs against a limit of 1,250. None of these count towards the circulating figure.
The design has been struck twice more for collectors. It was one of 16 reverses in the 2009 collection for the 50p's 40th anniversary, and it returned dated 2019 with Jody Clark's portrait in the British Culture set: see the 2019 Roger Bannister 50p. Neither appears in the Mint's circulating figures.
No recognised varieties or mint errors are documented for this coin.
Sources
The history, design, varieties and collecting notes on this page are drawn from these sources. Prices come from recorded sales, not from them.
- UK coin mintage figures (data file), The Royal Mint (read 9 Oct 2026)
- 50p Coin Designs and Specifications, The Royal Mint (read 9 Oct 2026)
- 2004 Elizabeth II 'The 50th Anniversary of the First Four-Minute Mile' 50p Coin, The Royal Mint (read 9 Oct 2026)
- Proclamation determining the specifications and design for fifty pence coins commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the first four-minute mile, London Gazette issue 57079, 9 October 2003, The Gazette (read 9 Oct 2026)
- Commemorative Coin Sales 2004, The Royal Mint (read 9 Oct 2026)
- Proclamation determining the specifications and designs for new fifty pence coins, London Gazette issue 59124, 10 July 2009, The Gazette (read 9 Oct 2026)
- 50 Years of the 50p Brilliant Uncirculated Coin Set - British Culture, The Royal Mint (read 9 Oct 2026)
- New Issue of the rarest 50 p coin celebrating Kew Gardens, CoinsWeekly (read 9 Oct 2026)
- 2004 Roger Bannister UK 50 Pence Gold Coin, The Royal Mint (read 9 Oct 2026)
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