Boccia 50p (2011)
The Boccia 50p, which many people call the wheelchair bowls 50p, shows a Paralympic athlete throwing a ball from his wheelchair. It is one of the London 2012 coins with the Paralympic logo, and it entered change in 2011. It is one of the 31 Olympic 50p coins and one of the 172 50p designs struck since 1969.
Boccia 50p value
- Circulated
- typical £2, range £1.80 to £3.20
- Uncirculated
- typical £5, range £4 to £6
Worked out from 12 published prices (7 price guides, 3 sold-price reports and 2 dealer prices), each condition from its own prices, checked in September 2026.
Rarity rank 32 of 81 ranked 50p designs, rarest first
Rarity: ScarceMore Boccia coins were struck than most designs in the London 2012 set, so circulated examples are easy to come by and condition does most of the work on price. Look for a sharp outline on the player and the wheels of the chair, and few marks on the open field. A Boccia coin still in its Royal Mint card, or in the coin cover, is worth more than one from change, and a sealed pack more again.
Boccia 50p mintage and rarity
With 2,166,000 struck for circulation, the Boccia 50p is the 32nd rarest of the 81 ranked 50p designs and has the 77th lowest mintage of all 194 circulating UK designs. That puts it in the Scarce band, for mintages 1,000,000 to 2,499,999.
The next rarer 50p is the Boxing 50p, with 2,148,500 struck, and the next more common is the Canoeing 50p, with 2,166,500 struck.
How to spot a Boccia 50p
The Boccia 50p carries the Paralympic logo rather than the Olympic rings, so look for three curved agitos inside the 0 of 2012 and the words Paralympic Games. Below it, a seated player in a wheelchair throws a ball, framed by a rectangle, with a corner of the court on the right above PENCE. The date on the heads side is 2011. No varieties of this design are known.
Boccia 50p design
Boccia, often described as wheelchair bowls, is one of the Paralympic sports that received its own coin in the London 2012 series. Justin Chung was a university student when he entered the Royal Mint's competition, keen to set himself a challenge. He watched films of boccia matches online, studying the players, the court and the crowd, and what caught his attention was the athletes' faces: their twisted expressions and body language showed how hard they were trying to win. That fighting spirit was what he set out to capture. His reverse shows a player in a wheelchair throwing a ball by hand. The wheelchair sits within a rectangular box, and a corner of the boccia court appears on the right, just above the word PENCE. At the top is the Paralympic form of the London 2012 logo, with three agitos in place of the rings inside the 0 and the words Paralympic Games beneath. The coin is dated 2011 on the heads side, next to Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of the Queen.
It was one of the 30 coins in the Olympic set issued in 2011.
Boccia 50p specifications
- Denomination
- 50p
- Year
- 2011
- Type
- Commemorative
- Issue
- Issued for circulation
- Series
- London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic sports
- Occasion
- The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
- Designer
- Justin Chung
- Composition
- Cupro-nickel
- Weight
- 8 g
- Diameter
- 27.3 mm
- Shape
- Seven-sided
- Edge
- Plain
- Obverse
- Elizabeth II, fourth portrait by Ian Rank-Broadley
Boccia 50p questions
Is the wheelchair bowls 50p rare?
No, the Boccia coin was one of the more heavily struck designs in the London 2012 set, so it is not scarce.
Why is the Boccia 50p called the wheelchair bowls 50p?
Boccia is a Paralympic ball sport often described as wheelchair bowls, and the coin shows a player throwing from a wheelchair, so many people search for it by that name.
Who designed the Boccia 50p?
Justin Chung, who entered as a university student and based the design on the effort he saw in boccia players' faces.