With just over three months until the Paris Olympics start in July, coin collectors will be eyeing the latest 50p commemorative Olympics coin issued by the Royal Mint.
The 50p piece, it says, will ‘celebrate Team GB and Paralympics GB athletes and wish them the best of luck at the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.’
The coins depict two runners, one Olympic and one Paralympic, but these will not enter general circulation.
Record year: 2011 saw by far the most 50 cent coin designs issued by the Royal Mint, with 29 Olympic designs alone
If you want to get your hands on one of these limited pieces, it will currently cost you £69 as part of the annual coin set.
On the other hand, as the countdown to the Paris Games begins, you may be thinking back to the slew of commemorative Olympic coins issued in 2011, ahead of the 2012 London Olympics.
Unlike the new Paris coin, the 29 different Olympic 50p designs were released for the London Games.
This puts 2011 comfortably in first place for the year with the most 50 cent coin issues, 31 to be precise, with a WWF coin also entering circulation and another design only for ‘brilliant, uncirculated’ sets is beaten.
The only year that even comes close is 2019, which saw 21 50p coins issued to mark the 50th anniversary of the 50p piece itself.
Commemorative coin: the Paris 2024 Olympic coin, bottom right, will not enter circulation and is only available as part of the Royal Mint’s annual collector’s coin set
Are the 2012 Olympic coins worth anything?
With over 52 million Olympic coins minted in the run-up to the 2012 Games, it’s not like these coins are a rarity – even now they pop up in handfuls of change from time to time.
However, now that an estimated 75 percent of these coins, or 39 million, have been withdrawn from circulation by collectors, they are becoming less common.
Depending on their rarity, which is based on the number of coins that have circulated, getting your hands on an Olympic 50p could still set you back a pretty penny, with collectors willing to pay well above the coin’s face value for the right piece.
Withdrawn: The original aquatic design shows waves passing over a swimmer’s face, but these have been removed to give a clearer view
The least rare Olympic coin, which bears an archery design and of which more than 3 million copies were issued in 2011, will fetch around £2.50, says the Britannia Coin Company.
At the other end of the spectrum, the football coin, which has a design explaining the offside rule, can set you back as much as £22.95 on eBay, or £22 according to the Britannia Coin Company.
Rare: Of the Olympic coins in circulation, the football design was the least circulated
Change Checker rates the football coin, of which there are only 1.1 million in circulation, at 82nd on its scarcity index, classifying it as ‘very scarce’ and making it the most sought-after Olympic coin. By comparison, the archery coin is rated as ‘less common’ with only 17 points on the scarcity index.
The rarer models include wrestling, judo, triathlon and tennis, of which fewer than 1.5 million examples were minted, and are worth around £11, £15, £15 and £4.50 respectively.
Blue Peter: In 2009, 19,722 50 cent athletics coins were minted
Less rare coins such as those for athletics, canoeing and water sports cost around £3 for athletics and canoeing, and £2.50 for water sports coins.
Where the real money can be made, however, is with the coins that are not part of general circulation. And if you get your hands on one, you can make a nice amount of money.
One of these coins is shaped like an earlier version of the Olympic 50p design for water sports, which shows water flowing over the swimmer’s face. This design was withdrawn from circulation and modified to show the swimmer’s face more clearly.
For those who managed to get their hands on one of these coins before they were withdrawn, you could sell it for as much as £1,000, according to Change Checker.
The first coin designed for the London Olympics could also fetch as much as £275. The model in question, designed for athletics, shows a high jumper drawn by 8-year-old Florence Jackson from Bristol as part of a Blue Peter competition.
Although there were a whopping 2.2 million of the 2011 issued versions of this coin, only 19,722 coins were issued with the 2009 stamp on the obverse.
Coins were also released for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, but only the Rio coin entered circulation. Sadly, the design will only retail for around £2.
While you’re unlikely to get a 50-cent Paris Olympics unless you’re willing to part with a hefty amount of cash, it might be worth it to finally get your money’s worth before this year’s Olympics crawl into your piggy bank to see if you can make money with it. the coin.
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