The Archery 50p is sought after by collectors due to being released as part of the Olympic 2012 50p coin set, but how much is it worth today?
The Archery 50p sells for around £2.14 on eBay in 2022, but the exact value varies depending on the condition of the particular coin.
Let’s see what makes the coin worth over 4 times face value to collectors.
Mintage of the Archery 50p Coin
This coin that represents the Olympic sport of Archery is considered to be the least rare of the Olympic coins, ranked at 29th rarest in the set of 29 coins based on mintage figures.
But don’t be fooled, there was a total of 3,345,500 minted which is still quite small in terms of 50p coins. Some of the other Olympic coins include the Volleyball or Badminton 50ps which are also highly collectable.
The coin was also minted in a Specimen in card variety marked Card 2/29 and a Silver Brilliant Uncirculated in 0.925 Silver, with one unique Gold Proof FDC 0.917 Gold presented to the artist.
The 50p Archery Coin was also minted with an unknown mintage in sets including the London 2012 Sports Collection Collector Album and the London 2012 Silver 50p Sports Collection minted in 0.925 silver with a limit of 30,000.
Olympic Coin’s Design
The coin is part of the 50 pence coin design with a 7-sided shape. As the name implies, the face value of the coin is worth 0.50 pounds sterling. It consists of a Cupro-nickel alloy with an 8.00g weight, a diameter of 27.3mm, and 1.78mm thick.
In addition to the standard 50p designs, several reverse designs have been minted to commemorate important events. This coin was designed to celebrate Archery as an Olympic sport and is part of the Commemorative 2012 London Olympic coins.
The Obverse design shows Queen Elizabeth II as designed by Ian Rank-Broadley Fourth Portrait. Her mature head is crowned and facing right. Surrounding her portrait are the words ELIZABETH II * D * G * REG * F * D * 2011.
The edge is plain with no inscription.
Reverse Side Design
To pay tribute to the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in London, the Royal Mint released 29 coins in 2011. Each coin depicted a different sport. The designer chosen to create the image on the reverse side of the Archery 50p coin was Piotr Powaga.
The coin features the end of an arrow on the string of an archery bow that is drawn. The left edges of the coin seem to form the front of the bow. The archer’s hand is shown in close-up with great detail. Three fingers are on the string, the thumb is bent downward, and the pinkie is pointing down to the left as well and looks to be slightly bent.
Centred at the bottom of the coin just below the hand are the words 50 PENCE.
Paralympics Logo
At the top and centre of these commemorative coins is either the Olympic logo or the Paralympic logo, both designed by Wolff Olins consultancy firm. The Archery 50p features the Paralympic logo that differs slightly from the Olympic 2012 logo.
For the first time, the Paralympics logo used an emblem that shared a common design with the Summer Olympics logo of the same year. The main differences include design element shapes that are present in each of the numbers that make up the “2012”. Instead of the 5 Olympic rings, inside the Zero are the three agitos, or crescent shapes, which is a Paralympic symbol. The three agitos represent the Paralympic motto, “Spirit in Motion”.
Information About the Designer
Each of the 29 Olympic 50p coins was designed by individual designers who were the winners of a contest sponsored by the Royal Mint. The Archery Olympic 50p coin was designed by Piotr Powaga from East Yorkshire
Piotr entered the coin design competition because he has always been drawn to creating or designing things. He wanted to work on designing a sport that would link the ancient Olympics with today’s Games. He decided archery was a good choice.
Instead of picturing the typical silhouette of an archer, he wanted to do something different. He decided to focus closely on one aspect of archery. His first idea was to design the eye of an archer since an archer’s eye would show intense muscle structure as the athlete pulled the bow. He quickly scratched that idea. His challenge was that the image had to fit on a small coin.
He created the archery coin’s image using his wife’s hand as inspiration. He asked his wife to pretend as if she were pulling an archer’s bow. She picked up an object in her hand, and his design was launched.
Archery was an event at both the Olympics and the Paralympics in 2012.
Archery at the 2012 Olympics
Four Archery events were held at the London 2012 Olympics including two events for men and two for women. A total of 128 archery athletes competed. The events took place at the prestigious Lord’s Cricket Ground. The venue had the capacity to hold 6,500 spectators.
South Korea finished well by taking first place overall. They won three gold medals and one bronze. Following in second place was Italy with one gold medal. China, Japan, and Mexico tied for third place each with one silver and one bronze medal. The United States took home one silver medal.
Archery at the 2012 Paralympics
Archery at the 2012 Paralympics included nine events. Five events were for men and four for women. 139 archers from 29 nations competed.
The competitions in the Paralympics were held at the Royal Artillery Barracks.
The Paralympics Archery included three classes that were determined based on disability:
- Wheelchair 1 (W1)
- Wheelchair 2 (W2)
- Standing (ST)
The competitions included:
- Men’s Individual Compound Open
- Men’s Individual Compound W1
- Men’s Individual Recurve W1/W2
- Men’s Individual Recurve Standing
- Men’s Team Recurve
- Women’s Individual Compound Open
- Women’s Individual Recurve W1/W2
- Women’s Individual Recurve Standing
- Women’s Team Recurve
Russia dominated the top of the leader board with 2 gold, 1 silver, and 2 bronze medals. South Korea came in second, and China followed in third place. Great Britain, Italy, and the United States tied for 4th place ranking.
Where You Can Buy The Archery 50p Coin
One of the fastest and easiest ways to shop for coins is online. The average selling price on eBay is £2.00 for this coin, so keep that in mind if you do decide to buy one of them.