Triathlon 50p (2011)
The Triathlon 50p links a runner, a cyclist and a swimmer with lines that shift between pool lanes, running track and road. It is one of the lower-mintage coins in the London 2012 sports set, struck for circulation with a 2011 date. It is one of the 31 Olympic 50p coins and one of the 172 50p designs struck since 1969.
Triathlon 50p value
- Circulated
- typical £10, range £8 to £12
- Uncirculated
- typical £16, range £11 to £19
Worked out from 19 published prices (11 price guides, 5 sold-price reports and 3 dealer prices), each condition from its own prices, checked in September 2026.
Rarity rank 6 of 81 ranked 50p designs, rarest first
Rarity: ScarceTriathlon had one of the smallest circulation runs in the London 2012 set, so even worn coins sell well above the plentiful sports. Grade still matters: look for clear lines in the lanes and track and a crisp outline on the cyclist's wheels. Brilliant uncirculated coins in the Royal Mint's Triathlon coin card or coin cover fetch more than coins from change, and a sealed pack beats an opened one.
Triathlon 50p mintage and rarity
With 1,163,500 struck for circulation, the Triathlon 50p is the sixth rarest of the 81 ranked 50p designs and has the 44th 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 Judo 50p, with 1,161,500 struck, and the next more common is the Flopsy Bunny 50p, with 1,400,000 struck.
How to spot a Triathlon 50p
Three figures move across the coin: a runner at the left edge, a cyclist bent over the handlebars in the middle and a swimmer's head and reaching arm at the right. A sweep of lines runs beneath and through them. Unlike the Modern Pentathlon 50p, there is no splash, horse or fencer. The logo shows the Olympic rings, and no triathlon varieties are known.
Triathlon 50p design
Sarah Harvey first heard about the competition through an email a colleague sent round at work. She had not long returned from maternity leave, felt fresh, and used a couple of lunch hours to have a go. Triathlon caught her imagination as she read the list of sports, and she already had its three activities in mind. The hard part, and also the most creative one, was finding a way to join them together, and the swimmer was the figure she was proudest of. The sport was on her mind at the time: people around her were sporty and competitive, and charity sponsorships, her brother's among them, kept bringing triathlon up in conversation. On the finished coin the runner is on the left, the cyclist in the centre and the swimmer on the right, all heading the same way. The lines beneath them change from swimming lanes into a running track and then a cycling road.
It was one of the 30 coins in the Olympic set issued in 2011.
Triathlon 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
- Sarah Harvey
- Composition
- Cupro-nickel
- Weight
- 8 g
- Diameter
- 27.3 mm
- Shape
- Seven-sided
- Edge
- Plain
- Obverse
- Elizabeth II, fourth portrait by Ian Rank-Broadley
Triathlon 50p questions
Is the Triathlon 50p rare?
It is among the scarcer London 2012 sports coins, with fewer struck for circulation than most of the set.
Who designed the Triathlon 50p?
Sarah Harvey, who drew it in her lunch breaks soon after going back to work from maternity leave.
How do I tell the Triathlon 50p from the Modern Pentathlon 50p?
Count the sports. The Triathlon coin has three figures side by side, while the Modern Pentathlon coin has five, with a swimmer at the front and a horse among the figures behind.