Triathlon 50p

Introducing the Triathlon 50p Coin

As part of a tribute to the upcoming 2012 Summer Olympics in London, the Royal Mint released a series of 29 coins in 2011. Each 50p coin depicted a different sport in the Games. The triathlon competition made its debut at the Sydney Summer Games in 2000. The sporting event consists of a sequence of a 1500 meter swim, then a 40km road bicycle race, and then finishes with a 10 km run. The race was held in Hyde Park with 55 participants and gave Alistair Brownlee the Gold for the Men’s triathlon race. Due to the relatively low mintage amount, this 50p coin is very scarce. 

2012 Triathlon 50p Coin

The triathlon 50p’s design is by Sarah Harvey. It features the three legs of the race, running, cycling, and swimming under the London 2012 Olympic logo. The obverse design is of the fourth portrait of HM Queen Elizabeth II by Ian Rank-Broadley. 

Sarah Harvey discussed her thought-process for the design in an interview with the Royal Mint. “I just found it quite fascinating and I had it in my head when I was looking at the list of sporting activities and I had the three forms in my head and I just needed some kind of way of connecting them and I think that was perhaps the most challenging but kind of the most creative element of the design and the swimmer was the one I was most pleased with.”

(Caption: Olympics Triathlon Pictogram)

How Much is the Triathlon 50p Coin Worth?

The Triathlon 50p was issued only 1.1 million times, making it a very scarce coin to find. In fact, many of the 2012 Olympic 50ps are some of the hardest 50p coins to find. There are many auctions on eBay willing to sell their complete Olympic 50p set. But for a single circulated Triathlon 50p, the highest price has been £19.99 as of 2019. 

Other Versions of the Triathlon Coin  

There is at least one other Proof version of the Triathlon coin, the Silver Proof (30,000 mintage).  There is also a Brilliant Uncirculated version for those that want something a little nicer than a circulation coin but don’t want to spend lots of money. 

Other Olympics Coins

If you love the Olympics, there are many more coins to find! The Royal Mint released 29 50p coins for the 2012 London Olympics, including the controversial ‘Offside Rule’ 50p. For the 2016 Rio Olympics, in support of Team GB, it also released a 50p with a swimmer. 

In 2008, for the 100^th anniversary of the 1908 London Olympics, a 2-pound coin was issued. Two more 2-pound coins were released for the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Handover Ceremonies.

As part of the yearly countdown to the 2012 Olympic, the Royal Mint also released 5-pound coins starting from 2009.