The 2020 Team GB 50p – what we know so far…

Today it was revealed by Royal Proclamation that a brand new 50p coin will be released in 2020 to celebrate Team GB at the Olympic Games.

According to the Royal Proclamation published on 12th July, the new 50p coin will be issued next year, supporting Team GB at the 2020 Olympic Games which will be held in Japan.

Whilst the final design hasn’t been revealed just yet, it is suggested to feature symbols depicting individual Olympic sports accompanied by the Olympic Rings, the Team GB logo, the inscription ‘TEAM GB’ and the date ‘2020’.

Olympic 50p craze

The 2012 Olympic 50p collecting craze kick started many collector’s interest in the hobby and since then an estimated 75% of these coins have been removed from circulation by collectors adding them to their collection.

Many collectors were therefore delighted in 2016 when The Royal Mint issued a special 50p to wish Team GB success for the Rio 2016 Games, considered by many to be the 30th Olympic 50p.

Team GB 2016 United Kingdom 50p BU Coin UKU01856.
2016 Team GB 50p

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 – a must have for all Olympic 50p Collectors.

Could this be the 31st Olympic 50p?!

Now that a new Team GB 50p is on the horizon I’m sure Olympic 50p collectors will be really excited to be able to get their hands on this coin next year.


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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

Complete collection of Olympic 50ps

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.

Only 100,000 Presentation Packs were issued

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 design was modified to make the swimmer more visible.

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.

A gold version of each design was presented to the respective artist

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 new 2016 UK Team GB 50p Coin

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

Do you still have coins missing from your Olympic 50p collection?

Fill the gaps in your Olympic 50p collection >>

Royal Mint announces a treat for Olympic 50p Collectors

With 25 days to go until the Olympic Games in Rio this Summer, the Royal Mint have released a coin that’s sure to excite the hundreds of thousands of people who collected the Sports 50p coins for the London 2012 Olympics.

Team GB 2016 United Kingdom 50p BU Coin UKU01856.

The new UK Team GB 50p Coin 

This UK 50p coin has been released to wish Team GB success in Rio this summer.

The coin’s obverse design 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 the British Olympians.

The 30th Olympic 50p

In the lead up to the 2012 Olympic Games, 29 million Olympic 50p coins were released into circulation across 29 different designs – 1 for each Olympic sport.

Remarkably the Royal Mint estimated that 75% of those coins were removed from circulation as collectors clamoured to complete the collection, with many coins like Football and Judo barely ever seen in your change today.
[read more about which Olympic 50p coins are the rarest]

The top 10 rarest Olympic 50p coins

The new Team GB coin will surely become known as the “30th Olympic 50p” and with so many established collectors, it seems certain that its release will be greeted with much excitement.


Team GB 2016 United Kingdom 50p BU Coin UKU018562

The 2016 UK Team GB 50p

If you can’t wait to find this coin in your change you can add the Brilliant Uncirculated Team GB 50p to your collection now.