2011 Olympic Table Tennis 50p
The 2011 Olympic Table Tennis 50p is a circulating 50p with 1.74 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
- 1,737,500
- 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 Table Tennis 50p worth?
1.74 million were made, so the 2011 Olympic Table Tennis 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 Table Tennis 50p rare?
- No. 1.74 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2011 Olympic Table Tennis 50p coins were made?
- 1,737,500 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 2011 Olympic Table Tennis 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 Table Tennis 50p still legal tender?
- Yes. Every 27.3 mm 50p, including commemoratives, is legal tender in the UK.
Why the 2011 Olympic Table Tennis 50p was made
Table tennis began in Victorian England as an after-dinner game, played across dining tables with whatever bats and balls came to hand. It grew into a sport of startling speed and spin. It became an Olympic medal sport at Seoul in 1988. Top players can put so much spin on the ball that it swerves in the air and kicks off the table at sharp angles. It has an even longer Paralympic history, appearing at the very first Paralympic Games in Rome in 1960. At London 2012 the Olympic tournament showed just how strong China is in the sport: Chinese players won all four gold medals, in the men's and women's singles and both team events.
The Table Tennis 50p is one of 29 designs the Royal Mint produced for the Olympic and Paralympic sports of 2012. Each came from the public competition held in 2009, when the Royal Mint invited anyone to submit an idea for a sport. The coins carry the date 2011 and were released into change over 2011 and 2012. Given the game's English roots, it is a fitting member of a set issued for a London Games.
How to recognize it
The reverse shows two hands gripping table tennis bats, with the ball streaking between them and a table in the background. It is a compact design that uses the small round ball and the paddle shapes of the bats to make it instantly recognizable. The London 2012 emblem on the reverse confirms that it is part of the Olympic series. On the obverse is Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II and the date 2011, used on every coin in the set. The bats and ball are the high points, so they show wear first. Physically it is a normal 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 Table Tennis 50p by the numbers
Measured by how many were made, the 2011 Olympic Table Tennis 50p ranks 18th lowest of 76 circulating 50p coins with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 2011 Olympic Gymnastics 50p (1.72 million); the next more common is the 2011 Olympic Basketball 50p (1.75 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.
2011 brought 29 other circulating 50p designs, from the Olympic Football (1.13 million) up to the WWF (3.4 million). 12 of them had a smaller run.
Within the 2011 Olympic and Paralympic set of 29, it ranks 13th scarcest, behind the Football, Wrestling and Judo and others.
What to check on your 2011 Olympic Table Tennis 50p
- Confirm the design. The reverse should match the Olympic Table Tennis 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 1,737,500 struck for circulation, Table Tennis sits right in the middle of the Olympic series. In circulated condition it is a face value coin and not a hard one to find. That gives you room to be choosy. Look for one with a smooth, unscratched field and a crisp outline to the bats. Some examples never saw circulation at all, having been sold in Royal Mint collector packs. A coin from one of those has full mint luster and no contact marks, while a coin from change usually looks dull with small knocks around the rim.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 50 pence |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2011 |
| Circulation mintage | 1,737,500 |
| 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 many Table Tennis 50p coins were made?
The Royal Mint struck 1,737,500 Table Tennis 50p coins for circulation. That places it in the middle of the 29 Olympic designs, so it is reasonably easy to find and generally a face value coin when worn.
Who designed the Table Tennis 50p?
Like most of the series, it was designed by a member of the public through the Royal Mint's 2009 competition. Each winning entrant's name is recorded by the Royal Mint. The design was struck with the date 2011.
Mintage figures: Fifty pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.