2011 WWF 50p
The 2011 WWF 50p is a circulating 50p with 3.4 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
- 3,400,000
- Value band
- Face value
- Designer
- Matthew Dent
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 WWF 50p worth?
3.4 million were made, so the 2011 WWF 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 WWF 50p rare?
- No. 3.4 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2011 WWF 50p coins were made?
- 3,400,000 were struck for circulation.
- Who designed the 2011 WWF 50p?
- The design is credited to Matthew Dent.
- What is the 2011 WWF 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 WWF 50p still legal tender?
- Yes. Every 27.3 mm 50p, including commemoratives, is legal tender in the UK.
Why the 2011 WWF 50p was made
The World Wildlife Fund was founded in 1961 and its giant panda logo soon became one of the best known symbols in conservation. Its founders included the naturalist and painter Peter Scott, who drew the first version of the panda logo. In 1986 it changed its name to the World Wide Fund for Nature in most countries, though it kept the old name in the United States and Canada, to reflect work that had grown far beyond protecting individual species. Its projects now cover forests, oceans, fresh water and climate as well as wildlife.
For the 50th anniversary in 2011 the Royal Mint issued a 50p designed by Matthew Dent, who had designed the reverses of the definitive coins introduced in 2008, the set whose pieces fit together to form the Royal Shield. Just 3.4 million were struck for circulation. 2011 was a crowded year for the denomination, with 29 Olympic and Paralympic sports 50ps dated the same year, so the WWF coin was easy to overlook at the time. Collectors have since caught up with it.
How to recognize it
Fifty small symbols are packed across the reverse, matching the 50 years being celebrated. Each one represents part of the range of work carried out by the World Wide Fund for Nature, so the coin reads more like a pattern than a single picture. That busy, tiled look is the giveaway: no other 50p of the period is built from dozens of tiny icons. A magnifying glass makes it much easier to see what each symbol shows. Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of the Queen is on the obverse and the coin is 27.3 mm across with a smooth edge. Matthew Dent designed it, three years after his Royal Shield definitives.
The other side carries Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, used from 1998 to 2015.
2011 WWF 50p by the numbers
By the numbers, the 2011 WWF 50p ranks 38th lowest of 76 circulating 50p coins with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 2011 Olympic Archery 50p (3.35 million); the next more common is the 2018 Tailor of Gloucester 50p (3.9 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1973 EEC Hands 50p with 89.8 million, about 26 times as many. The scarcest is the 1992 Single Market 50p with 109,000, 31 times fewer than this one.
It shared 2011 with 29 other circulating 50p designs, from the Olympic Football (1.13 million) up to the Olympic Archery (3.35 million). The 2011 WWF 50p was the most plentiful of the year.
What to check on your 2011 WWF 50p
- Confirm the design. The reverse should match the WWF 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 3.4 million made, the WWF coin has one of the lower mintages among the commemorative 50ps of the 2010s and people searching their change know it. Circulated coins still sit near face value, though tidy examples can earn a small premium. The many tiny symbols are the weak point: they wear quickly and a coin from change can look blotchy within a few years. A coin that never circulated keeps each symbol distinct. Try to find one where you can pick out individual symbols without a magnifier.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 50 pence |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2011 |
| Circulation mintage | 3,400,000 |
| Composition | Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel) |
| Weight | 8.0 g |
| Diameter | 27.3 mm |
| Shape | Seven-sided (equilateral curve heptagon) |
| Edge | Plain |
| Designer | Matthew Dent |
| Portrait | Rank-Broadley |
Other 2011 50p coins
Frequently asked questions
Is the WWF 50p rare?
It's scarcer than most. The Royal Mint struck 3.4 million for circulation in 2011, a lower figure than many commemorative 50ps, though nowhere near Kew Gardens. Circulated examples still turn up and carry at most a small premium.
What are the 50 symbols on the WWF 50p?
Each small symbol represents a part of the World Wide Fund for Nature's work. There are 50 of them to match the organization's 50th anniversary in 2011 and together they fill the reverse as a pattern.
Mintage figures: Fifty pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.