Introducing the Goalball 50p Coin
Goalball is a special team sport because it was uniquely designed for athletes with vision impairment. This also means that there’s no able-bodied version of the game. Teams of three athletes attempt to throw an audible ball into their opponents’ goal. These players need to use the sound of the ball to find, throw, and roll it into the other team’s goal.
Goalball joined the Summer Paralympic Games in 1976 Games in Toronto, Canada. During the 2012 Games in London, Finland took home the Gold medal for the men’s tournament while Japan took home the Gold medal for the women’s tournament.
Goalball 2011 50p
The Goalball 50p coin was designed by Jonathan Wren, an animator from Buckinghamshire. It features a blindfolded athlete, upright, swinging the ball from their right to left. The ball’s unique audible design is illustrated by the array of sweeping arc emanating from the ball itself. It also has a bell symbol. The 2012 Paralympic logo is at the top of the coin.
During his interview with the Royal Mint Museum, Jonathan described why he chose Goalball and what he wanted his design to say. “I thought by choosing goalball as it’s a quite fast-paced sport that it would work well as a bold, single image and I tried to capture the essence of the sport with speed hence using the whiz lines and on the ball I put a bell hopefully to explain to people who don’t know the sport the rules and something about goalball that they may not have picked up on before.”
(Caption: Pictogram for the Goalball event at the 2012 London Olympics)
How Much is the Goalball 50p Coin Worth?
The highest price sold for a single Goalball 50p coin on eBay was for £15.00, as of late October 2019. The coin was Brilliant Uncirculated and still in its original packaging.
How Many Goalball 50p Coins Were Made in Circulation?
The Royal Mint released 1,615,500 Goalball 50p coins into circulation.
Other Versions of the Goalball 50p Coin
Along with the circulation version of the Goalball 50p, the Royal Mint also released two other types for more serious collectors. You can find the Brilliant Uncirculated version and the Silver Proof version (mintage: 30,000).
Other Olympic Coins
For more information about the other 28 London Olympics 50p coins, Chancery Coins has an in-depth guide that will explain everything there is to know about this historic coin series.
For more Olympic coins, there is the £2 coin series created for the 2012 Handover ceremony and the £5 coin series created for the 2012 Games countdown. For other Olympic Games coins, there’s also the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics 50p coin and the £2 coin for the 100th anniversary of the 1908 London Games in 2008.
Specifications | |
Issued | 2011 |
Diameter | 27.30mm |
Weight | 8.00g |
Thickness | 1.78mm |
Composition | Cupro-nickel (75% copper, 25% nickel) |
Obverse Designer | Ian Rank-Broadley FRBS |
Reverse Designer | Jonathan Wren |
Edge | Plain |
Mintage | 1,615,500 |
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