Volleyball 50p (2011)

More Volleyball coins were struck than most London 2012 designs, so worn coins are easy to find and sell for only a small premium. Condition decides the rest: sharp squares in the net, distinct rays behind the ball and clear detail on the players raise the price, while a coin with a flattened net and dull surface sits at the bottom of the range. Brilliant uncirculated coins from the Volleyball coin card or coin cover sell for more than circulated ones.

With 2,133,500 struck for circulation, the Volleyball 50p is the joint 28th rarest of the 81 ranked 50p designs and has the joint 73rd 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 Fencing 50p, with 2,115,500 struck, and the next more common is the Equestrian 50p, with 2,142,500 struck.

A net running diagonally across the coin is the first thing to look for, with three players stretching for the ball on either side of it. At the top, the ball sits in a burst of rays that spread out like sunlight. The players' bodies continue down behind the 50 PENCE lettering at the foot of the coin. The Olympic rings are in the logo, and the volleyball design has no known varieties.

Daniela Boothman, a bank sales representative from Leyland, had loved drawing since her school days without ever making a career of it. She was on maternity leave with her baby son when she heard about the competition, which gave her the spare time to submit a few designs. Working through the list of sports, she had ideas for several, but once she reached volleyball and began sketching she was keen on it straight away and sure it would look good on a coin. Because the game is rarely on television, she studied books and pictures online to understand how the players move, printed plenty out and drew all over it. Her design instinct led her to run the net across the coin at an angle, and she added lines streaming from the ball to balance the composition. The finished reverse shows three players contesting the ball over the net, with the ball set against rays like the sun.

It was one of the 30 coins in the Olympic set issued in 2011.