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

About the 2011 50 Pence - Elizabeth II – Weightlifting

The 2011 50 Pence - Elizabeth II – Weightlifting 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: Weightlifter in action, London 2012 logo above, denomination below.

1,879,500 were struck.

Common questions

History and design

The Weightlifting 50p was struck as part of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games series, 29 coins with one design for each sport, all chosen through a public competition. The proclamation that describes it came into force on 12 May 2010. The coin is dated 2011, as are the other 28.

The Royal Mint's figures give a circulating mintage of 1,879,500. Seventeen designs in the series are lower and 11 are higher. The series splits into 18 designs below two million and 11 above, and Weightlifting has the highest mintage of the lower group.

Its neighbours are some way off on either side: Hockey at 1,773,500 below it and Cycling at 2,090,500 above. It is 754,000 clear of the Football coin, the scarcest of the 29.

The reverse is by Rob Shakespeare. The proclamation describes it as "the outline of a weightlifter starting a lift", with the London 2012 logo above and 50 PENCE below.

Shakespeare told the Royal Mint Museum that he saw a blank coin printed in a newspaper and decided to have a go. He had lifted weights in gyms himself and had always been interested in "the dynamic shapes that people take" in the sport. He did not want to draw someone holding a weight aloft, because that is the image "everybody sees", and chose the squat position at the start of the lift instead, a move that uses all the muscles in the legs.

The outline style had a practical cause. "I'm not the best at drawing", he said, "so I thought I would just do the outline to see what the shape was." He described himself as not a professional artist. 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. Scuffs, discolouration and flattened detail on a circulated example are wear, not errors.

Because the lifter is drawn as an outline, condition shows in the line itself. Check that the outline is unbroken and that the bar and weights are still sharp.

The proclamation also provided for the design to be struck in gold. Any precious-metal versions share the design but are separate from the 1,879,500 struck for circulation.

The coin was struck for general circulation and can still be found in change. The Museum's page for the coin gives the designer's name as Robert Shakespeare, while the Royal Mint's list of designs uses Rob. The neighbouring design by mintage is the Hockey 50p.