2016 Team GB 50p
The 2016 Team GB 50p is a circulating 50p with 6.4 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2016
- Circulation mintage
- 6,400,000
- Value band
- Face value
- Designer
- Tim Sharp
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 2016 Team GB 50p worth?
6.4 million were made, so the 2016 Team GB 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 2016 Team GB 50p rare?
- No. 6.4 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2016 Team GB 50p coins were made?
- 6,400,000 were struck for circulation.
- Who designed the 2016 Team GB 50p?
- The design is credited to Tim Sharp.
- What is the 2016 Team GB 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 2016 Team GB 50p still legal tender?
- Yes. Every 27.3 mm 50p, including commemoratives, is legal tender in the UK.
Why the 2016 Team GB 50p was made
The 2016 Summer Olympic Games were held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in August that year. Team GB had one of its most successful Games ever, finishing second in the medal table with 67 medals including 27 golds. That was more than it had won at the home Games in London four years earlier. Mo Farah kept both his 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters titles, while Laura Trott won two cycling golds. Swimming played its part: Adam Peaty won gold in the 100 meters breaststroke, Britain's first Olympic swimming title for a man since 1988.
The Royal Mint marked the Rio Games with a Team GB 50p designed by Tim Sharp. Its circulation mintage was 6,400,000. It followed the 29 Olympic and Paralympic sports 50ps dated 2011, which had celebrated London 2012. It gave Olympic fans another sporting design to look for in their change. The coin came out in the same year as the Beatrix Potter and Battle of Hastings coins, which made 2016 an especially rich year for anyone collecting 50ps from circulation.
How to recognize it
A swimmer cuts through the water on the reverse, shown with the Team GB logo. The combination of a swimmer and that logo is what sets it apart from other sporting 50ps. On the obverse is the Jody Clark portrait of the Queen. It is 27.3 mm wide with an unmarked edge. Don't confuse it with the 2011 aquatics coin from the London 2012 series, which also features a swimmer but belongs to that earlier set and lacks the Team GB logo. Tim Sharp designed the Team GB coin, one of several sporting 50ps issued in the decade after London 2012.
The other side carries Jody Clark's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, introduced in 2015 and the last of her reign.
2016 Team GB 50p by the numbers
By the numbers, the 2016 Team GB 50p ranks 50th lowest of 76 circulating 50p coins with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 2018 Paddington at the Palace 50p (5.9 million); the next more common is the 2014 Commonwealth Games Glasgow 50p (6.5 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1973 EEC Hands 50p with 89.8 million, about 14 times as many. The scarcest is the 1992 Single Market 50p with 109,000, 59 times fewer than this one.
It shared 2016 with 6 other circulating 50p designs: the Jemima Puddle-Duck (2.1 million), the Squirrel Nutkin (5 million), the Battle of Hastings (6.7 million), the Beatrix Potter (6.9 million), the Mrs Tiggy-Winkle (8.8 million) and the Peter Rabbit (9.7 million). 2 of them had a smaller run.
What to check on your 2016 Team GB 50p
- Confirm the design. The reverse should match the Team GB described above and carry the date 2016; 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 6.4 million made, the Team GB coin is a regular find in change and circulated examples sit at face value. It's a popular companion to the 2011 Olympic series, though it isn't part of that set. Detail in the swimmer's arms and head is shallow and wears quickly, so a sharp one is worth picking out. A coin kept from new shows a clean logo and smooth, bright water; one from change usually has rubbing across the swimmer and scratches in the field.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 50 pence |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2016 |
| Circulation mintage | 6,400,000 |
| Composition | Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel) |
| Weight | 8.0 g |
| Diameter | 27.3 mm |
| Shape | Seven-sided (equilateral curve heptagon) |
| Edge | Plain |
| Designer | Tim Sharp |
| Portrait | Clark |
Other 2016 50p coins
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 Peter Rabbit 50p | 9,700,000 | Face value |
| 2016 Mrs Tiggy-Winkle 50p | 8,800,000 | Face value |
| 2016 Beatrix Potter 50p | 6,900,000 | Face value |
| 2016 Battle of Hastings 50p | 6,700,000 | Face value |
| 2016 Squirrel Nutkin 50p | 5,000,000 | Face value |
| 2016 Jemima Puddle-Duck 50p | 2,100,000 | Face value |
Frequently asked questions
Is the Team GB 50p part of the Olympic 50p set?
No. The 29 Olympic sports 50ps are dated 2011 and were issued for London 2012. The Team GB coin is dated 2016 and marks the Rio Games, though many collectors keep it alongside the earlier set.
Who designed the Team GB 50p?
Tim Sharp designed the reverse, which shows a swimmer with the Team GB logo. The Royal Mint struck 6,400,000 for circulation in 2016, the year Team GB finished second in the Olympic medal table in Rio.
Mintage figures: Fifty pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.