Aquatics (lines over face) 50p (2011)
The lines over face Aquatics 50p is the withdrawn first version of the London 2012 swimming design, with water lines running across the swimmer's face. It never reached circulation, which makes it far scarcer than the swimmer 50p found in change. It is one of the 31 Olympic 50p coins and one of the 172 50p designs struck since 1969.
Aquatics (lines over face) 50p value
- Uncirculated
- typical £1,275, range £540 to £3,060
Worked out from 8 published prices (5 price guides, 2 news reports of sold prices and 1 dealer price), each condition from its own prices, checked in September 2026.
With this coin, authenticity comes first. Because fakes are about, an example with a clear history, or one still in its original Royal Mint packaging, is worth more than a loose coin with no background. After that, condition counts: every genuine example left the Mint as a brilliant uncirculated coin, so marks, scratches or a dulled surface lower the price. A swimmer with a clear face is the ordinary circulating coin and carries none of the premium.
Aquatics (lines over face) 50p mintage and rarity
The Aquatics (lines over face) 50p was not issued for circulation, so it has no rarity rank.
How to spot an Aquatics (lines over face) 50p
Hold the coin under a good light and look closely at the swimmer's head. On this withdrawn version the water lines carry straight on across the face, so the features are hard to make out. On the ordinary circulating coin no lines cross the face, which is sharply defined. Convincing fakes of the lines over face coin exist, so compare any example with a known genuine one and check that it weighs 8 grams.
Aquatics (lines over face) 50p design
Jonathan Olliffe's Aquatics design won its place in the Royal Mint's public competition for the London 2012 coins. A silversmith by training, he set out to suggest water with nothing but engraved lines, and in his original artwork those lines swept over the whole submerged swimmer, face included. That was the design first struck for the Aquatics 50p. The Royal Mint then withdrew it and modified the artwork, taking the waves off the face so the swimmer would stand out, and the adapted coin is the one that went into circulation in 2011. The number of original coins that left the Mint has never been published. The known examples reached collectors in brilliant uncirculated packaging, both in full sets of the Olympic coins and in some sealed single-coin packs. Apart from the face, it matches the later coin: the swimmer in cap and goggles heading right, the 2012 logo and its rings at the top, and 50 PENCE at the foot. The obverse carries Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of the Queen with the date 2011.
It was one of the 30 coins in the Olympic set issued in 2011.
Aquatics (lines over face) 50p specifications
- Denomination
- 50p
- Year
- 2011
- Type
- Error or mule
- Issue
- Not issued for circulation
- Series
- London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic sports
- Occasion
- The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
- Designer
- Jonathan Olliffe
- Composition
- Cupro-nickel
- Weight
- 8 g
- Diameter
- 27.3 mm
- Shape
- Seven-sided
- Edge
- Plain
- Obverse
- Elizabeth II, fourth portrait by Ian Rank-Broadley
Aquatics (lines over face) 50p questions
Was the lines over face Aquatics 50p released into circulation?
No, it was withdrawn before the revised design was released, and the known examples come from brilliant uncirculated packs and sets.
How do I tell the lines over face Aquatics 50p from the normal one?
Look at the swimmer's face. On the withdrawn version water lines cross it; on the circulating coin the face is clear.
Is the Aquatics 50p error really an error?
Not a striking fault. It is a first design that was withdrawn and changed to make the swimmer easier to see, though collectors usually sell and search for it as an error coin.