50 Pence - Elizabeth II 4th portrait, Cycling

One of twenty-nine 50p designs released by the Royal Mint for the London 2012 Olympics, this cycling piece entered circulation in 2011 as part of the largest commemorative 50p programme ever undertaken in Britain. The series flooded the market to an extent that secondary demand collapsed almost immediately for most designs — though a handful of lower-mintage pieces, particularly the aquatics coin with its swimmer partially obscured by lane lines, attracted frenzied collector attention and tabloid coverage. Cycling was among the higher-mintage issues, with approximately 2,224,000 struck for circulation.