50 Pence - Elizabeth II 4th portrait Triathlon (2011)

About the 2011 50 Pence - Elizabeth II – Triathlon

The 2011 50 Pence - Elizabeth II – Triathlon 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: Runner, cyclist and swimmer, London 2012 logo above, denomination below.

1,163,500 were struck.

Common questions

History and design

The Triathlon 50p comes from the 29-coin series struck for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, in which each sport has its own reverse chosen through a public competition. The proclamation setting out the design came into force on 12 May 2010, and the coin is dated 2011 like the rest of the series.

The Royal Mint's figures give a circulating mintage of 1,163,500. That is the fourth lowest of the 29, and the top of a close group of four: Football (1,125,500), Wrestling (1,129,500), Judo (1,161,500) and then Triathlon, only 2,000 above Judo. The next design, Tennis, is 290,500 higher.

When the Royal Mint listed the ten rarest 50p coins in circulation in October 2024, the Triathlon coin was sixth.

The reverse is by Sarah Harvey. The proclamation describes it as "a montage of the three sports which form the triathlon", with the London 2012 logo above and 50 PENCE below. The Royal Mint describes three figures, running, swimming and cycling, with lines sweeping across the coin to stand for the water and the roads the athletes race on.

Harvey told the Royal Mint Museum that she heard about the competition through an email circulated at work, soon after returning from maternity leave, and worked on her entry "in a couple of lunch hours". She had the three forms in her head from the start and needed a way to join them, which she called "the most challenging but kind of the most creative element of the design". The swimmer was the figure she was most pleased with.

The sport was in her mind because people around her, her brother included, were taking part in sponsored charity events. 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.

Collecting notes

No recognised varieties or mint errors are documented for this coin. Scratches, staining and flattened detail on a circulated example are wear, not errors.

The three figures are small and the connecting lines are fine, so check that each athlete is still distinct and that the lines are still visible.

The proclamation also provided for the design to be struck in gold. Any precious-metal versions share the design but are separate from the 1,163,500 struck for circulation.

The coin was struck for general circulation and can still turn up in change, though few do. Its closest neighbours by mintage are the Judo 50p and the Wrestling 50p.