2011 Olympic Rowing 50p
The 2011 Olympic Rowing 50p is a circulating 50p with 1.72 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
- 1,717,300
- 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 Rowing 50p worth?
1.72 million were made, so the 2011 Olympic Rowing 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 Rowing 50p rare?
- No. 1.72 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2011 Olympic Rowing 50p coins were made?
- 1,717,300 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 2011 Olympic Rowing 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 Rowing 50p still legal tender?
- Yes. Every 27.3 mm 50p, including commemoratives, is legal tender in the UK.
Why the 2011 Olympic Rowing 50p was made
Rowing was scheduled for the first modern Games in 1896, but rough seas forced its cancellation. It made its debut in Paris in 1900 and has been on the program ever since. Britain has a long record of success in the sport, with Steve Redgrave winning gold at five consecutive Games from 1984 to 2000. At London 2012 the regatta was held at Eton Dorney, west of London. Helen Glover and Heather Stanning won the women's pair to claim the host nation's first gold medal of the Games. Britain went on to top the rowing medal table.
The Rowing 50p is part of the Royal Mint's 2011 series covering the 29 sports of London 2012. Its design came through the public competition held in 2009, when the Royal Mint invited ideas from members of the public. The coins then entered circulation over 2011 and 2012. Rowing's mintage is close to the middle of the series, a shade below Gymnastics. Given Britain's results at Eton Dorney, it is a coin many people like to keep.
How to recognize it
The reverse shows a rowing crew cutting through the water, with words linked to the Olympic movement worked into the design. That lettering is unusual in the series and gives the coin a rhythm of its own. It is easy to tell apart from Canoeing, the other water design, because the rowers sit in a line and work as a crew. Wear shows first on the raised boat and figures. Somewhere on the reverse you'll spot the angular London 2012 emblem. The other side has Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, dated 2011. The coin is an ordinary seven-sided 50p, 27.3 mm across with a plain edge.
The other side carries Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, used from 1998 to 2015.
2011 Olympic Rowing 50p by the numbers
In mintage terms the 2011 Olympic Rowing 50p ranks 16th lowest of 76 circulating 50p coins with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 2018 Mrs Tittlemouse 50p (1.7 million); the next more common is the 2011 Olympic Gymnastics 50p (1.72 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1973 EEC Hands 50p with 89.8 million, about 52 times as many. The scarcest is the 1992 Single Market 50p with 109,000, 16 times fewer than this one.
It was released in 2011 alongside 29 other circulating 50p designs, from the Olympic Football (1.13 million) up to the WWF (3.4 million). 10 of them had a smaller run.
Within the 2011 Olympic and Paralympic set of 29, it ranks 11th scarcest, behind the Football, Wrestling and Judo and others.
What to check on your 2011 Olympic Rowing 50p
- Confirm the design. The reverse should match the Olympic Rowing 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 1,717,300 struck for circulation, Rowing sits just below the middle of the Olympic series. That makes it a face value coin when circulated and a fairly steady find. The fine lettering in the design is the giveaway for condition. On a well preserved coin the words are clear and separate, while wear blurs them together. You may also come across the design in a Royal Mint collector pack. Those coins have bright, untouched luster, which is easy to tell from the dull, marked surface of a coin from change.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 50 pence |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2011 |
| Circulation mintage | 1,717,300 |
| 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
Is the Rowing 50p rare?
Not especially. The Royal Mint struck 1,717,300 for circulation, putting it in the middle of the 29 Olympic designs. It is a face value coin in circulated condition, though a sharp one is still a nice addition to a set.
Can you still spend a Rowing 50p?
Yes, you can. The 2011 Olympic 50p coins are still legal tender, so a Rowing 50p can be spent like any other. Most people keep them, since the series is popular and collectors trade them to complete sets.
Mintage figures: Fifty pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.