50 Pence - Elizabeth II Weightlifting Gold Proof (2011)

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

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

Common questions

History and design

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

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.