2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games 50p
The 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games 50p is a Royal Mint collector issue that was never released into circulation. Value band: small premium. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2022
- Issued as
- Collector packs and sets only
- Value band
- Small premium
- Designer
- Natasha Preece
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 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games 50p worth?
This design was never released into circulation. The Royal Mint sold it in brilliant uncirculated packs and annual sets, so almost every example is a collector piece. One found in change is still legal tender at 50 pence; out of its pack it brings a small premium at most, while a coin still sealed in its original packaging is what collectors want.
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 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games 50p rare?
- It is scarcer than most 50p coins. It was never issued into circulation, so most examples are in collector packs.
- How many 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games 50p coins were made?
- None were made for circulation. The Mint sold this design only in packs and sets.
- Who designed the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games 50p?
- The design is credited to Natasha Preece.
- What is the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games 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 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games 50p still legal tender?
- Yes. Every 27.3 mm 50p, including commemoratives, is legal tender in the UK.
Why the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games 50p was made
Birmingham hosted the Commonwealth Games from 28 July to 8 August 2022, bringing athletes from across the Commonwealth to the West Midlands. It was the third time the Games had come to England, after London in 1934 and Manchester in 2002. Athletes competed across the city and the region, with the closing ceremony bringing the event to an end in August. The Royal Mint issued a 50p to mark the occasion, joining the long run of British coins celebrating major sporting events.
The banks never received this coin. It was sold only as a brilliant uncirculated coin in packs, so if you find a Birmingham Commonwealth Games 50p in your change, someone opened a pack and spent it. It is legal tender at 50p, but because none were sent to banks, it is a coin most people never come across by chance. Do not confuse it with the coins made for the 2002 Manchester Games, which were a different denomination. It makes a natural souvenir of the Games for anyone who was there or watched from home.
How to recognize it
Natasha Preece designed the reverse, which shows the Library of Birmingham, with its distinctive facade of interlocking metal rings, along with the words "Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games". The library opened in 2013 and has become a symbol of the modern city. The obverse carries the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II and the 2022 date. No other 50p shows the library, so identification is straightforward. The rings on the coin echo the real building's metal screen, which wraps the library's glass walls. It is struck in cupronickel on the standard seven-sided blank with a plain edge, the same size as every 50p since 1997.
The other side carries Jody Clark's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, introduced in 2015 and the last of her reign.
2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games 50p by the numbers
No circulation mintage exists for the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games 50p because none were released to banks. The Royal Mint's other collector-only 50p coins dated 2022 were Winnie the Pooh: Eeyore, Winnie the Pooh: Kanga and Roo and BBC Centenary.
For comparison, the 50p coins that did reach change in 2022 were the Platinum Jubilee (5 million), the Pride (5 million) and the Queen Elizabeth II Memorial (9.6 million).
What to check on your 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games 50p
- Confirm the design. The reverse should match the Birmingham Commonwealth Games described above and carry the date 2022; 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.
The Birmingham coin appeals to sports fans, to collectors of sporting coins and to people from the city. With no circulation mintage, any found in change were once inside a pack. Unopened, it carries a collector premium. A coin from change usually shows wear on the fine rings of the library facade, leaving it at face value or a small premium. Those rings are the best condition test: sharp on a pack coin, blurred on one that has been handled. Pack coins also have bright, even luster across the field, without the small scratches a purse leaves behind.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 50 pence |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2022 |
| Circulation mintage | None (collector issue) |
| Composition | Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel) |
| Weight | 8.0 g |
| Diameter | 27.3 mm |
| Shape | Seven-sided (equilateral curve heptagon) |
| Edge | Plain |
| Designer | Natasha Preece |
| Portrait | Clark |
Other 2022 50p coins
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 Platinum Jubilee 50p | 5,000,070 | Face value |
| 2022 Pride 50p | 5,000,000 | Face value |
| 2022 Queen Elizabeth II Memorial 50p | 9,600,000 | Face value |
| 2022 Winnie the Pooh: Eeyore 50p | Collector issue | Small premium |
| 2022 Winnie the Pooh: Kanga and Roo 50p | Collector issue | Small premium |
| 2022 BBC Centenary 50p | Collector issue | Small premium |
Frequently asked questions
What does the Birmingham Commonwealth Games 50p show?
It shows the Library of Birmingham with its ring-patterned facade and the words Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. Natasha Preece designed it. The coin was sold only in brilliant uncirculated packs.
Can I find the Commonwealth Games 50p in change?
Only rarely. It was sold in brilliant uncirculated packs and never released to banks. Any found in change came from an opened pack, so it is legal tender but uncommon in purses and tills.
Mintage figures: Fifty pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.