The Tennis 50p is part of the infamous Olympic 50p coin set released to commemorate the 2012 Olympic Games held in London, but how much is it worth today?
If you want to buy a Tennis 50p be willing to spend an average of £2.31 on eBay, according to recent values in 2022.
Let’s take a dive into the meaning behind the coin and why it regularly sells for over 4 times its face value.
Mintage of the Tennis 50p Coin
When considering mintage figures alone, this coin that represents the Olympic sport of Tennis is considered to be the 5th rarest in the set of 29 coins. There were less than 1.5 million issued with a total of 1,454,000 minted, similar to some of the other Olympic 50p coins such as the Offside or Judo coins.
Other Versions of the Coin
Additionally, the coin was minted in a Specimen in Presentation Card variety on card 24/29 as well as a Silver Brilliant Uncirculated coin issued in 0.925 Silver with an unknown mintage but limited to 30,000.
One unique Gold Proof FDC 0.917 Gold was presented to the artist
The 50p Tennis Olympic Coin was also minted in sets with unknown mintage figures including:
- London 2012 Sports Collection Collector Album
- London 2012 Silver 50p Silver Sports Collection
Tennis at the Olympics
Tennis is a sport played with a racket against either a single opponent or teams of two called doubles. The players hit the hollow fuzzy rubber ball back and forth over a net into the other player’s court. The court is marked to show what is in or out of bounds with lines marking a centre service line, service lines, and a baseline.
In a game of tennis, the scoring starts at love, 15, 30, and then finally 40. A sequence of games is called a set. A match is a sequence of sets. Tennis is played at all levels. At the Olympic level, tennis tournaments are played.
At the 2012 London Olympics, tennis tournaments were played on grass courts at the All England Club in Wimbledon. 190 tennis players competed in five separate events including singles and doubles for both men and women athletes.
For the first time since 1924, the London Olympics included mixed doubles.
The United States took home three gold medals. Great Britain finished in second place with Belarus in third.
Reverse Side Design of the Tennis 50p
To pay tribute to and create enthusiasm for the upcoming 2012 Summer Olympics in London, the Royal Mint released 29 coins in 2011. Each coin depicted a different sport and was designed by individuals who were winners of a contest that the Royal Mint launched in 2009.
The Tennis coin features The top and centre of a tennis net running diagonally from the left-top to the mid-left side of the coin.
Toward the top left, but to the lower right of the logo, is a tennis ball travelling over the net. The ball is presented with design element touches that make the ball look like it has the texture of a real tennis ball covered in fuzzy bright yellow. The knots on the tennis net give the same textured lifelike, almost 3-D effect.
At the top and centre of the coin is the Olympic logo that was designed for The 2012 Summer Olympics logo by the consultancy firm of Wolff Olins.
The logo consists of the year, 2012 with the 20 stacked on top of the 12 in thick, jagged geometric shapes. The Olympic rings are positioned inside the “0”, and the word, “london” all in lowercase letters is seen inside the first “2”.
Centred at the bottom of the coin are the words 50 PENCE to show the coin’s value.
Specification and Obverse Design
All of the Olympic 50p coins are part of the 50 pence design. This design is a 7-sided shape that forms an equilateral curved heptagon. As the name implies, the face value of the coin is worth 0.50 pounds sterling.
In addition to the standard 50p designs, several reverse designs have been minted of the 50p coin to commemorate important events. The 29 Olympic coins, including the Tennis 50p, are part of the special commemorative coin mintage.
The 50p coin is made of Cupro-nickel alloy with an 8.00g weight, a diameter of 27.3mm, and it is 1.78mm thick.
The Obverse design is that of a mature crowned head of Queen Elizabeth II designed by Ian Rank-Broadley. The image features Her Majesty facing right and wearing the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland diamond tiara. Surrounding her portrait are the words ELIZABETH II * D * G * REG * F * D * 2011.
The edge of the Olympic 50p coins is plain with no inscription.
Information About the Designer
Each of the 29 Olympic 50p coins was designed by individual designers who entered and were the winners of a contest to determine who the Royal Mint would use for each coin. The Tennis Olympic 50p coin was designed by Tracy Baines. She is one of only a few women chosen to design the reverse side images on these special commemorative coins.
Tracy Baines submitted her design for the coin somewhat on a whim. She learned about the competition when she saw a picture in the newspaper. By the time she learned of the competition, she only had about a week to submit her design. She came up with four designs, and her tennis design won.
She chose tennis largely because her mother was a huge fan. Tracy grew up watching the sport, so she was very familiar with it.
Where You Can Buy The Tennis 50p Coin
Looking for coins on eBay is one of the fastest and easiest ways to shop for collectable coins. The average selling price on eBay is £2.21 for this coin, so be prepared to pay close to that amount. Of course, the actual price will be largely determined by the condition of the coin.
