Coin News
Do you own the rarest Olympic 50p?
In 2011, 29 50p coins were released ahead of the 2012 London Olympics and millions rose to the challenge of collecting them all. For many, this marked the start of their interest in coins.
The Royal Mint now estimates that as many as 75% of the Olympic 50p coins have been removed from circulation by collectors, which is a testament to their popularity.
But which Olympic 50ps do you need to look out for…
2009 Athletics Olympic 50p
In 2009, two years before the 29-coin Olympic 50p series was released, nine-year old Florence Jackson became the youngest person to design a coin for circulation in the UK. Her Athletics Olympic 50p design was the ultimate winner of a Blue Peter competition.
Although you may recognise this coin, you may not know that a rare version of this coin exists. When the competition winner was revealed, only 100,000 special edition Blue Peter coin packs were released with a 2009 dated coin – making it the only Olympic 50p without a 2011 date.
That makes this 2009 Athletics Olympic 50p more than twice as rare as the famous Kew Gardens 50p.
Which Olympic 50p is the rarest?
Did you know that only 1,125,500 Football fifty pence pieces entered circulation? It’s definitely the rarest one to look out for and tops our chart as having the smallest mintage figures, which means it is even harder to find than the others.
Although the Olympic Football 50p holds the smallest mintage figure, this doesn’t necessarily mean it’s always going to be the most sought-after Olympic 50p. To determine just how scarce and sought-after your coins are, check out our Scarcity Index.
The withdrawn Aquatics ‘error’ Olympic 50p
The Aquatics 50p which we are familiar with today is actually a modified version which removed the waves passing over the swimmer’s face.
Despite the original design being adapted early on – there are still a few of the original coins in circulation.
Although the exact quantity of the original Aquatics design remains a mystery, we know it’s not unusual for these special coins to exchange hands for close to £1000… not a bad return on a 50p coin!
The rarest of the series
It is without doubt that the gold versions of each 50p remain the rarest of the collection.
Unfortunately for collectors, obtaining one of these is nearly impossible as only one gold version of each design was presented to the respective winning designer.
Aside from the precious metal content, their unique status and significance rank them as potentially the most valuable UK 50p coins in existence.
Is this the 30th Olympic 50p?
To the delight of many Olympic 50p collectors, in 2016 The Royal Mint issued a special 50p to wish Team GB success for the Rio Games.
The coin’s obverse features a swimmer with the Team GB logo, the Olympic rings and the inscription ‘TEAM GB’. Designed by Tim Sharp, the coin has been officially endorsed by Team GB and celebrates the spirit of British Olympians.
Although the 2016 Team GB 50p isn’t part of the 29-coin Olympic 50p series, it’s become known as the ‘unofficial 30th Olympic 50p’ – a must have for all Olympic 50p Collectors.
Dual-Dated Team GB 50p
Back in 2020, collectors were delighted by the announcement of the new Team GB 50p, released as part of the 2020 Annual Coin Set to celebrate Team GB’s participation in the Tokyo Olympic Games.
However, due to the coronavirus pandemic and the postponement of the Olympic Games to 2021, this 50p was never individually released in 2020.
Excitingly, this means that there are two versions of the coin – one with the obverse dated 2020 from the 2020 Annual Coin Set and one with the obverse dated 2021 from the individual release.
What’s more, this makes the 2021 UK Team GB 50p one of only a small handful of UK 50ps to feature a dual-date – only adding to its collectability!
Complete your 50p collection
UPDATED: The Change Checker Ebay Tracker
With more and more UK coins (and recently banknotes) being released and an ever increasing international interest in coin collecting, it can be difficult to keep track of how much the most sought-after coins are fetching on the secondary market.
In order to help you, we are delighted to share our UPDATED Change Checker eBay Tracker and Valuation Index for the Top 10 coins and banknotes!
After a small rise in value in January 2018 across the 10 tracked issues, it’s very interesting to see that there has now been a general decrease in prices,with only 2 of the top 10 seeing an increase in the price they have sold for. As you can see in the tracker below, the Jemima Puddle-duck 50p has had a significant effect on the overall value, effectively putting a cap on the maximum value able to be achieved currently.
The most surprising change to see between January and June 2018 is that the AA01 serial numbered £5 polymer bank notes are now selling for £14.50 – £4 higher than before. It would appear that the urge to get hold of one of these early printed notes is still very much present. Have you managed to get hold of one and if so, are you planning to sell it on?
The biggest decrease can be seen with the undated error 20p coins, seeing a £7 decrease from £53 to £46. As we know, up to 250,000 of these coins made it into circulation so it could be that more coins are being found now that more collectors know what to look for.
Undated 20p selling for £46
The undated 20p is regarded by many as the Holy Grail of change collecting, becoming the first coin in over 300 years to enter circulation without a date and I’m sure you’ll agree that £46 is still not a bad return for a 20p coin!
So even though we can see a general decrease in value between January and June, the overall value is still strong with the 8 tracked coins showing a 36x premium over face value!
Not surprisingly, the highly sought-after Kew Gardens 50p remains king, selling for £80.50, with some in good condition still selling for over £100! These coins are definitely worth keeping an eye out for.
Kew Gardens 50p still selling for £80.50
And due to the large amount of hype surrounding the new Paddington 50p coins, we expect them to become a potential top 10 contender in the near future. It’s a very exciting time to be a change checker, as we are sure that these coins will be extremely collectable.
Let us know in the comments below if you’ve managed to find one of these scarce coins in your change or if you’ve sold on any coins for more than face value.
How does the eBay Tracker work?
The Change Checker eBay Tracker takes the last 9 sold prices achieved on eBay and gives the median price achieved (rounded to the nearest 50p). By taking the median, rather than an average, we avoid skewing created by one or two excessive prices achieved.
Please note that the Change Checker eBay Tracker is only ever designed to be a guide as to prices achieved on eBay. Prices may vary depending on collector demand and the quality of the coin being sold. It does not provide any guarantee as to future values of coins.
If you’re interested in coin collecting, our Change Checker web app is completely free to use and allows users to:
– Find and identify the coins in their pocket
– Collect and track the coins they have
– Swap their spare coins with other Change Checkers
Sign up today at: www.changechecker.org/app
Spot the difference! Variations in the 12 sided £1 explained
Since their introduction in 2017, a common query we get is people asking about variations in their 12 sided £1 coins.
Having read David Groom’s fascinating articles in Coin News Magazine, we’ve found the key facts which explain these variations, what to look for, and why they might have occurred.
We know that of the 1.75 billion 12 sided £1 coins struck for circulation between 2016 and 2022, roughly half a billion are dated 2016.
Of course, having such a high mintage figure must lead to varieties in design and quality of striking, however in the Coin News examination of just 40 randomly selected 12 sided £1 coins, an extraordinary number of varieties appeared…
Edges
Perhaps the most talked about variation with the 12 sided £1 is the milling on the edge of the coin, with ‘lefties’ being a common error in the milling process.
Obverses
Groom’s article suggested four clear variations can be found on the obverse of the coin, including the position of the design and text.
Reverses
Groom also highlighted the four clear features of difference on the reverses of the £1 coins.
Misalignment
One of the most common variations seems to be misalignment of the coins, particularly where the outer and inner sections do not align properly.
Dates
We’ve spoken before in our blog about the dual-dated £1 coins, with one such coin being valued at £3,000. Groom also mentions that many examples of the 2016 pound coin have the date numbers very poorly struck, making the date hard to read.
Royal Mint Trial Coins
Trial coins are issued when new coin specifications are being tested, but they should not enter circulation. These coins feature the words ‘The Royal Mint’ and ‘Trial Piece’.
Back in 2018, a 2015 dated trial 12-sided £1 coin sold on eBay for a whopping £500! However, looking at eBay listing in 2025, these coins are selling for much more reasonable prices, with the exception of a 2014 trial coin which sold for £235.
Whilst there are clearly a number of variations to be found in the 12 sided £1 coins, Coin News suggests that these may arise from off centre striking, or be due to the different characteristics from the two metals of the bimetallic coin.
Have you found an interesting variation in any 12-sided £1 coins you’ve found? Let us know in the comments!
– Credit ‘Up close, the new 12 sided £1 coin’ – David Groom, Coin News, April and May 2018
Find out more about your coins
If you’re interested in coin collecting, our Change Checker web app is completely free to use!
