50 Pence - Elizabeth II Boxing Gold Proof (2011)

About the 2011 50 Pence - Elizabeth II Boxing – Gold Proof

The 2011 50 Pence - Elizabeth II Boxing – Gold Proof is a collector 50 pence coin in the Olympic 50p (2011) series, struck in 91.67% gold. It weighs 15.5g and measures 27.3mm across. Reverse design: © AW - Auction World.

Common questions

History and design

This is a collector version of the 50 Pence - Elizabeth II – Boxing. The history below is that coin's; the mintage, varieties and collecting notes on its page do not apply to this strike.

The Boxing 50p comes from the series of 29 coins, one per sport, issued for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The designs were chosen through a competition open to the public, and all the coins are dated 2011.

The Royal Mint's figures give a circulating mintage of 2,148,500, the sixth highest of the 29. Five designs are higher (Archery, Athletics, Aquatics, Canoeing and Boccia) and twenty-three are lower. Equestrian is the nearest below at 2,142,500, and Boccia the nearest above at 2,166,000.

That is more than a million above Football, the lowest of the series at 1,125,500, so this is one of the easier Olympic designs to find.

The reverse was designed by Shane Abery and selected from more than 30,000 public submissions. It shows a pair of boxing gloves against the background of a boxing ring, with ropes and ring posts behind them, the London 2012 logo above and 50 PENCE below.

Abery's entry began as a way to encourage his children. They had seen the children's competition advertised on Blue Peter, and he agreed to draw a coin alongside them. They gave up after a couple of days. He carried on, he told the Royal Mint Museum, "with no real intention of sending it off", until the children told him it was good and that he had to.

He picked boxing because he had boxed for a year or two as a child and knew the sport. The gloves were an easy choice: "everyone can see a pair of boxing gloves and quickly link the gloves to the sport so it was just laying them out in the right way".

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.