2011 Olympic Hockey 50p
The 2011 Olympic Hockey 50p is a circulating 50p with 1.77 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2011
- Circulation mintage
- 1,773,500
- Value band
- Face value
- Composition
- Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel)
Original illustration of the coin's shape and metal. Tap to flip. Not a picture of the actual design.
Face value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is a 2011 Olympic Hockey 50p worth?
1.77 million were made, so the 2011 Olympic Hockey 50p is easy to find. A circulated one is worth face value; collectors pay a little more only for uncirculated coins and coins still in their original Royal Mint pack.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with no scratches or contact marks
- Original Royal Mint pack or presentation folder
- A genuine mint error, confirmed by an expert
For market prices, look at recent sold results for the same coin in the same condition, not asking prices.
Quick answers
- Is the 2011 Olympic Hockey 50p rare?
- No. 1.77 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2011 Olympic Hockey 50p coins were made?
- 1,773,500 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 2011 Olympic Hockey 50p made of?
- Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel). It weighs 8.0 g and measures 27.3 mm, with a seven-sided (equilateral curve heptagon) shape.
- Is the 2011 Olympic Hockey 50p still legal tender?
- Yes. Every 27.3 mm 50p, including commemoratives, is legal tender in the UK.
Why the 2011 Olympic Hockey 50p was made
Hockey first appeared at the Olympics when London hosted in 1908, with England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales entering separate teams. Women's hockey followed in 1980. For London 2012 the sport moved onto a temporary venue in the Olympic Park called the Riverbank Arena. Its pitch made headlines: it was blue with pink surrounds, chosen so the yellow ball would stand out for players, spectators and television cameras. The Netherlands won the women's gold and Germany the men's. The British women's team took bronze.
The Royal Mint gave hockey its own coin in the 2011 series, one of 29 designs chosen from entries to the public competition held in 2009. The coins were released into circulation across 2011 and 2012, so anyone handling change in that period had a chance of finding the whole set. Hockey's mintage landed close to the middle of the range. That's high enough for it to turn up regularly, though not as often as the big Archery and Athletics runs. Of all the team sports in the set, it is one of the easiest to find.
How to recognize it
The reverse shows hockey in action, with players bent low over their sticks as they compete for the ball. The curved hooks of the sticks are the detail to look for, since no other design in the set features them. The small ball is easy to miss, so check for it near the sticks. The design shares the reverse with the London 2012 emblem. Turn the coin over to find Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II with the date 2011, the same date that appears on every Olympic 50p, including the ones that reached change in 2012. Physically it matches any other 50p of the time: seven-sided, 27.3 mm, with a plain edge.
The other side carries Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, used from 1998 to 2015.
2011 Olympic Hockey 50p by the numbers
By the numbers, the 2011 Olympic Hockey 50p ranks 22nd lowest of 76 circulating 50p coins with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 2011 Olympic Wheelchair Rugby 50p (1.77 million); the next more common is the 2017 Isaac Newton 50p (1.8 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1973 EEC Hands 50p with 89.8 million, about 51 times as many. The scarcest is the 1992 Single Market 50p with 109,000, 16 times fewer than this one.
It shared 2011 with 29 other circulating 50p designs, from the Olympic Football (1.13 million) up to the WWF (3.4 million). 16 of them had a smaller run.
Within the 2011 Olympic and Paralympic set of 29, it ranks 17th scarcest, behind the Football, Wrestling and Judo and others.
What to check on your 2011 Olympic Hockey 50p
- Confirm the design. The reverse should match the Olympic Hockey described above and carry the date 2011; similar designs from other years are a common mix-up.
- Weigh it if you can: a genuine 27.3 mm 50p weighs 8.0 g. Copies are often light, slightly soft in detail or the wrong color.
- Ignore painted or colored versions sold online as special editions. Color added after the coin left the Mint does not make it a Royal Mint issue and does not add collector value.
- Look at the surfaces under a bright light. Coins straight from a pack have unbroken luster; change-worn coins show scuffs on the high points of the portrait and design.
With 1,773,500 struck for circulation, Hockey sits just above the middle of the Olympic series. It is a face value coin in circulated condition and one most people find without much trouble. Since it isn't scarce, pick the best example you can. Look for sharp edges on the sticks and players and a field free of heavy scratches. The Royal Mint packaged the sports coins for collectors as well. A pack coin has bright, unbroken luster, which makes it look noticeably crisper than anything from a till.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 50 pence |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2011 |
| Circulation mintage | 1,773,500 |
| Composition | Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel) |
| Weight | 8.0 g |
| Diameter | 27.3 mm |
| Shape | Seven-sided (equilateral curve heptagon) |
| Edge | Plain |
| Portrait | Rank-Broadley |
Other 2011 50p coins
Frequently asked questions
How common is the Hockey 50p?
Fairly common. The Royal Mint struck 1,773,500 for circulation, just above the middle of the 29 Olympic designs. A circulated Hockey 50p is generally a face value coin, but it's still needed to complete the full set.
Why was the London 2012 hockey pitch blue?
The blue pitch with pink surrounds was chosen so the yellow ball would be easier to see for players, spectators and television viewers. The coin itself was issued before the Games, so the design focuses on the players rather than the venue.
Mintage figures: Fifty pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.