British Coins
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The standard circulating coinage of the United Kingdom, British Crown Dependencies and
British Overseas Territories The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remna ...
is denominated in pennies and pounds
sterling Sterling may refer to: Common meanings * Sterling silver, a grade of silver * Sterling (currency), the currency of the United Kingdom ** Pound sterling, the primary unit of that currency Places United Kingdom * Stirling, a Scottish city w ...
( symbol "£", commercial GBP), and ranges in value from one penny sterling to two pounds. Since
decimalisation Decimalisation or decimalization (see spelling differences) is the conversion of a system of currency or of weights and measures to units related by powers of 10. Most countries have decimalised their currencies, converting them from non-decimal ...
, on 15 February 1971, the pound has been divided into 100 (new) pence. Before decimalisation, twelve
pence A penny is a coin ( pennies) or a unit of currency (pl. pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. Presently, it is th ...
made a
shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence o ...
, and twenty shillings made a pound. British coins are minted by the
Royal Mint The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's oldest company and the official maker of British coins. Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly owned by His Majesty's Treasury and is under an exclus ...
in
Llantrisant Llantrisant (; "Parish of the Three Saints") is a town in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying on the River Ely and the Afon Clun. The three saints of the town's name are SS ...
, Wales. The Royal Mint also commissions the coins' designs. In addition to the circulating coinage, the UK also mints commemorative decimal coins (
crowns A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...
) in the denomination of five pounds. Ceremonial
Maundy money Royal Maundy is a religious service in the Church of England held on Maundy Thursday, the day before Good Friday. At the service, the British monarch or a royal official ceremonially distributes small silver coins known as "Maundy money" (legal ...
and bullion coinage of gold sovereigns, half sovereigns, and gold and silver Britannia coins are also produced. Some territories outside the United Kingdom, which use the pound sterling, produce their own coinage, with the same denominations and specifications as the UK coinage but with local designs.


Currently circulating coinage

The current decimal coins consist of one penny and two pence in copper-plated steel, five pence and ten pence in nickel-plated steel,
equilateral curve A Reuleaux triangle is a curved triangle with constant width, the simplest and best known curve of constant width other than the circle. It is formed from the intersection of three circular disks, each having its center on the boundary of the ...
heptagonal twenty pence and fifty pence in cupronickel, and bimetallic one pound and two pound. All circulating coins have an
effigy An effigy is an often life-size sculptural representation of a specific person, or a prototypical figure. The term is mostly used for the makeshift dummies used for symbolic punishment in political protests and for the figures burned in certai ...
of
Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...
on the obverse, and various national and regional designs, and the denomination, on the reverse. All current coins carry an abbreviated Latin inscription whose full form, , translates to " Elizabeth II, by the grace of God, Queen and
Defender of the Faith Defender of the Faith ( la, Fidei Defensor or, specifically feminine, '; french: Défenseur de la Foi) is a phrase that has been used as part of the full style of many English, Scottish, and later British monarchs since the early 16th century. It ...
". Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on 8 September 2022, the effigy and inscription will be updated to fit the new monarch, King Charles III.


Production and distribution

All genuine UK coins are produced by the
Royal Mint The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's oldest company and the official maker of British coins. Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly owned by His Majesty's Treasury and is under an exclus ...
. The same coinage is used across the United Kingdom: unlike banknotes, local issues of coins are not produced for different parts of the UK. The pound coin until 2016 was produced in regional designs, but these circulate equally in all parts of the UK (see UK designs, below). Every year, newly minted coins are checked for size, weight, and composition at a Trial of the Pyx. Essentially the same procedure has been used since the 13th century. Assaying is now done by the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths on behalf of HM Treasury. The 1p and 2p coins from 1971 are the oldest standard-issue coins still in circulation. Pre-decimal crowns are the oldest coins in general that are still legal tender, although they are in practice never encountered in general circulation. Coins from the British dependencies and territories that use sterling as their currency are sometimes found in change in other jurisdictions. Strictly, they are not legal tender in the United Kingdom; however, since they have the same specifications as UK coins, they are sometimes tolerated in commerce, and can readily be used in vending machines. UK-issued coins are, on the other hand, generally fully accepted and freely mixed in other British dependencies and territories that use the pound. An extensive coinage redesign was commissioned by the Royal Mint in 2005, and new designs were gradually introduced into the circulating British coinage from summer 2008. Except for the £1 coin, the pre-2008 coins remain legal tender and are expected to stay in circulation for the foreseeable future. The estimated volume in circulation as at March 2016 is:


History of pre-decimal coinage


The penny before 1500

The English silver penny first appeared in the 8th century CE in adoption of Western Europe's
Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...
monetary system wherein 12 pence made a shilling and 20 shillings made a pound. The weight of the English penny was fixed at troy grains (about 1.46 grams) by
Offa of Mercia Offa (died 29 July 796 AD) was List of monarchs of Mercia, King of Mercia, a kingdom of History of Anglo-Saxon England, Anglo-Saxon England, from 757 until his death. The son of Thingfrith and a descendant of Eowa of Mercia, Eowa, Offa came to ...
, an 8th-century contemporary of Charlemagne; 240 pennies weighed 5,400 grains or a
tower pound The pound or pound-mass is a unit of mass used in British imperial and United States customary systems of measurement. Various definitions have been used; the most common today is the international avoirdupois pound, which is legally defined ...
(different from the troy pound of 5,760 grains). The silver penny was the only coin minted for 500 years, from c. 780 to 1280. From the time of Charlemagne until the 12th century, the silver currency of England was made from the highest purity silver available. But there were disadvantages to minting currency of fine silver, notably the level of wear it suffered, and the ease with which coins could be " clipped", or trimmed. In 1158 a new standard for English coinage was established by Henry II with the " Tealby Penny" — the sterling silver standard of 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper. This was a harder-wearing alloy, yet it was still a rather high grade of silver. It went some way towards discouraging the practice of "clipping", though this practice was further discouraged and largely eliminated with the introduction of the milled edge seen on coins today. The weight of a silver penny stayed constant at above 22 grains until 1344; afterwards its weight was reduced to 18 grains in 1351, to 15 grains in 1412, to 12 grains in 1464, and to 10 grains in 1527. The history of the
Royal Mint The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's oldest company and the official maker of British coins. Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly owned by His Majesty's Treasury and is under an exclus ...
stretches back to AD 886. For many centuries production was in London, initially at the Tower of London, and then at premises nearby in Tower Hill in what is today known as
Royal Mint Court Royal Mint Court is a building complex with offices and 100 shared-ownership homes in East Smithfield, in London's East End, close to the City of London financial district. The site was the home of the Royal Mint from 1809 until 1967 and was ...
. In the 1970s production was transferred to
Llantrisant Llantrisant (; "Parish of the Three Saints") is a town in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying on the River Ely and the Afon Clun. The three saints of the town's name are SS ...
in South Wales. Historically Scotland and England had separate coinage; the last
Scottish coins From until 1709 the coinage of Scotland was unique, and minted locally. A wide variety of coins, such as the plack, bodle, bawbee, dollar and ryal were produced over that time. For trading purposes coins of Northumbria and various other places ha ...
were struck in 1709 shortly after
union with England The Treaty of Union is the name usually now given to the treaty which led to the creation of the new state of Great Britain, stating that the Kingdom of England (which already included Wales) and the Kingdom of Scotland were to be "United i ...
.


The penny after 1500

During the reign of Henry VIII, the silver content was gradually debased, reaching a low of one-third silver. However, in Edward VI's reign in 1551, this debased coinage was discontinued in favor of a return to sterling silver with the penny weighing 8 grains. The first crowns and half-crowns were produced that year. From this point onwards till 1920, sterling was the rule. Coins were originally hand-hammered — an ancient technique in which two dies are struck together with a blank coin between them. This was the traditional method of manufacturing coins in the Western world from the classical Greek era onwards, in contrast with Asia, where coins were traditionally cast. Milled (that is, machine-made) coins were produced first during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558–1603) and periodically during the subsequent reigns of James I and Charles I, but there was initially opposition to mechanisation from the moneyers, who ensured that most coins continued to be produced by hammering. All British coins produced since 1662 have been milled. By 1601 it was decreed that one troy ounce or 480 grains of sterling silver be minted into 62 pennies (i.e. each penny weighed 7.742 grains). By 1696, the currency had been seriously weakened by an increase in clipping during the
Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War (1688–1697), often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarch ...
to the extent that it was decided to recall and replace all hammered silver coinage in circulation.Newton and the Counterfeiter,
Thomas Levenson Thomas Levenson is an American academic, science writer and documentary film-maker. , he is Professor of Science Writing and director of the graduate program in science writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has written six book ...
, Faber & Faber,
The exercise came close to disaster due to fraud and mismanagement, but was saved by the personal intervention of Isaac Newton after his appointment as Warden of the Mint, a post which was intended to be a
sinecure A sinecure ( or ; from the Latin , 'without', and , 'care') is an office, carrying a salary or otherwise generating income, that requires or involves little or no responsibility, labour, or active service. The term originated in the medieval chu ...
, but which he took seriously. Newton was subsequently given the post of Master of the Mint in 1699. Following the 1707 union between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, Newton used his previous experience to direct the 1707–1710 Scottish recoinage, resulting in a
common currency A currency union (also known as monetary union) is an intergovernmental agreement that involves two or more states sharing the same currency. These states may not necessarily have any further integration (such as an economic and monetary union, ...
for the new Kingdom of Great Britain. After 15 September 1709 no further silver coins were ever struck in Scotland. As a result of a report written by Newton on 21 September 1717 to the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury the bimetallic relationship between gold coins and silver coins was changed by Royal proclamation on 22 December 1717, forbidding the exchange of gold guineas for more than 21 silver shillings. Due to differing valuations in other European countries this unintentionally resulted in a silver shortage, as silver coins were used to pay for imports, while exports were paid for in gold, effectively moving Britain from the silver standard to its first gold standard, rather than the
bimetallic standard Bimetallism, also known as the bimetallic standard, is a monetary standard in which the value of the monetary unit is defined as equivalent to certain quantities of two metals, typically gold and silver, creating a fixed rate of exchange betwee ...
implied by the proclamation. The coinage reform of 1816 set up a weight/value ratio and physical sizes for silver coins. Each troy ounce of sterling silver was henceforth minted into 66 pence or 5 shillings. In 1920, the silver content of all British coins was reduced from 92.5% to 50%, with some of the remainder consisting of manganese, which caused the coins to tarnish to a very dark colour after they had been in circulation for long. Silver was eliminated altogether in 1947, except for
Maundy coinage Royal Maundy is a religious service in the Church of England held on Maundy Thursday, the day before Good Friday. At the service, the British monarch or a royal official ceremonially distributes small silver coins known as "Maundy money" (legall ...
, which returned to the pre-1920 92.5% silver composition. The 1816 weight/value ratio and size system survived the debasement of silver in 1920, and the adoption of token coins of cupronickel in 1947. It even persisted after decimalisation for those coins which had equivalents and continued to be minted with their values in new pence. The UK finally abandoned it in 1992 when smaller, more convenient, "silver" coins were introduced.


History of decimal coinage


Decimalisation

Since
decimalisation Decimalisation or decimalization (see spelling differences) is the conversion of a system of currency or of weights and measures to units related by powers of 10. Most countries have decimalised their currencies, converting them from non-decimal ...
on 15 February 1971 the pound ( symbol "£") has been divided into 100 pence. (Prior to decimalisation the pound was divided into 20 shillings, each of 12 ldpence; thus, there were 240 ldpence to the pound.) The pound remained as Britain's currency unit after decimalisation (unlike in many other British commonwealth countries, which dropped the pound upon decimalisation by introducing dollars or new units worth 10 shillings or pound). The following coins were introduced with these reverse designs: * Half penny, 1971–1984: A crown, symbolising the monarch. * One penny, 1971–2007: A crowned portcullis with chains (the badge of the Houses of Parliament). * Two pence, 1971–2007: The Prince of Wales's feathers: a plume of ostrich
feather Feathers are epidermal growths that form a distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on both avian (bird) and some non-avian dinosaurs and other archosaurs. They are the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates and a premier ...
s within a coronet. * Five pence, 1968–2007: The Badge of Scotland, a thistle royally crowned. * Ten pence, 1968–2007: The lion of England royally crowned. * Fifty pence, 1969–2007: Britannia and lion. The first decimal coins – the five pence (5p) and ten pence (10p) — were introduced in 1968 in the run-up to decimalisation in order to familiarise the public with the new system. These initially circulated alongside the pre-decimal coinage and had the same size and value as the existing one shilling and two shilling coins respectively. The fifty pence (50p) coin followed in 1969, replacing the old ten shilling note. The remaining decimal coins – at the time, the half penny (p),
penny A penny is a coin ( pennies) or a unit of currency (pl. pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. Presently, it is t ...
(1p) and two pence (2p) — were issued in 1971 at decimalisation. A quarter-penny coin, to be struck in aluminium, was proposed at the time decimalisation was being planned, but was never minted. The new coins were initially marked with the wording (singular) or (plural). The word "new" was dropped in 1982. The symbol "p" was adopted to distinguish the new pennies from the old, which used the symbol "d" (from the Latin '' denarius,'' a coin used in the Roman Empire).


Updates 1982–1998

In the years since decimalisation, a number of changes have been made to the coinage; these new denominations were introduced with the following designs: * Twenty pence, 1982–2007: A crowned Tudor Rose, a traditional heraldic emblem of England (with incuse design and lettering). * One pound, 1983–2016: various designs; see '' One pound (British coin)''. * Two pounds, 1997–2014: An abstract design of concentric circles, representing technological development from the Iron Age to the modern-day electronic age. Additionally: * The halfpenny was discontinued in 1984. * The composition of the 1p and 2p was changed in 1992 from bronze to copper-plated steel without changing the design. * The sizes of the 5p, 10p and 50p coins were reduced in 1990, 1992 and 1997, respectively, also without changing the design. The twenty pence (20p) coin was introduced in 1982 to fill the gap between the 10p and 50p coins. The
pound coin The British one pound (£1) coin is a denomination of sterling coinage. Its obverse bears the Latin engraving ELIZABETH II D G REG () F D () meaning, 'Elizabeth II, by the grace of God, Queen, Defender of the Faith'. Proclamation of 28 May 1 ...
(£1) was introduced in 1983 to replace the Bank of England £1 banknote which was discontinued in 1984 (although the Scottish banks continued producing them for some time afterwards; the last of them, the Royal Bank of Scotland £1 note, is still issued in a small volume ). The designs on the £1 coin changed annually in a largely five-year cycle, until the introduction of the new 12-sided £1 coin in 2017. The decimal halfpenny coin was
demonetised Legal tender is a form of money that courts of law are required to recognize as satisfactory payment for any monetary debt. Each jurisdiction determines what is legal tender, but essentially it is anything which when offered ("tendered") in pa ...
in 1984 as its value was by then too small to be useful. The pre-decimal sixpence,
shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence o ...
and two shilling coins, which had continued to circulate alongside the decimal coinage with values of p, 5p and 10p respectively, were finally withdrawn in 1980, 1990 and 1993 respectively. The
double florin The double florin, or four-shilling piece, was a British coin produced by the Royal Mint between 1887 and 1890. One of the shortest-lived of all British coin denominations, it was struck in only four years. Its obverse, designed by Joseph Boeh ...
and crown, with values of 20p and 25p respectively, have technically not been withdrawn, but in practice are never seen in general circulation. In the 1990s, the Royal Mint reduced the sizes of the 5p, 10p, and 50p coins. As a consequence, the oldest 5p coins in circulation date from 1990, the oldest 10p coins from 1992 and the oldest 50p coins come from 1997. Since 1997, many special
commemorative A commemorative is an object made to memorialize something. Commemorative may refer to: * Commemorative coin, coins that issued to commemorate something * Commemorative medal, a medal to commemorate something * Commemorative plaque, a plate typic ...
designs of 50p have been issued. Some of these are found fairly frequently in circulation and some are rare. They are all legal tender. In 1992 the composition of the 1p and 2p coins was changed from bronze to copper-plated steel. Due to their high copper content (97%), the intrinsic value of pre-1992 1p and 2p coins increased with the surge in metal prices of the mid-2000s, until by 2006 the coins would, if melted down, have been worth about 50% more than their face value. A circulating bimetallic two pound (£2) coin was introduced in 1998 (first
minted Minted is an online marketplace of premium design goods created by independent artists and designers. The company sources art and design from a community of more than 16,000 independent artists from around the world. Minted offers artists two bus ...
in, and dated, 1997). There had previously been unimetallic commemorative £2 coins which did not normally circulate. This tendency to use the two pound coin for commemorative issues has continued since the introduction of the bimetallic coin, and a few of the older unimetallic coins have since entered circulation. There are also commemorative issues of
crowns A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...
. Until 1981, these had a face value of
twenty-five pence The British decimal twenty-five pence (25p) coin was a commemorative denomination of sterling coinage issued in four designs between 1972 and 1981. These coins were a post-decimalisation continuation of the traditional crown, with the same valu ...
(25p), equivalent to the five shilling crown used in pre-decimal Britain. However, in 1990 crowns were redenominated with a face value of five pounds (£5) as the previous value was considered not sufficient for such a high-status coin. The size and weight of the coin remained exactly the same. Decimal crowns are generally not found in circulation as their market value is likely to be higher than their face value, but they remain legal tender.


Obverse designs

All modern British coins feature a profile of the current monarch's head on the obverse. There had been only one monarch since decimalisation,
Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...
, so her head appears on all decimal coins, facing to the right (see also Monarch's profile, below). However, five different effigies have been used, reflecting the Queen's changing appearance as she has aged. These are the effigies by
Mary Gillick Mary Gaskell Gillick ( Tutin; 1881 – 27 January 1965) was a sculptor and medallist, best known for her effigy of Elizabeth II used on coinage in the United Kingdom and elsewhere from 1953 to 1970. Personal life Born Mary Gaskell Tutin in Not ...
(until 1968),
Arnold Machin Arnold Machin OBE, R.A., FRSS (; 30 September 1911 – 9 March 1999) was a British artist, sculptor, and coin and postage stamp designer. Life Machin was born Stoke-on-Trent in 1911. He started work at the age of 14 as an apprentice china pai ...
(1968–1984),
Raphael Maklouf Raphael David Maklouf (born 10 December 1937) is a British sculpture, sculptor, best known for designing an effigy of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Queen Elizabeth II used on the coins of many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth nations ...
(1985–1997), Ian Rank-Broadley (1998–2015), and
Jody Clark Jody Clark (born 1 March 1981) is a British engraver formerly employed by the Royal Mint. He designed the fifth and final portrait of Queen Elizabeth II to feature on coins of the pound sterling, and that portrait was the fifth and final to f ...
(from 2015). In September 2022, the first portrait of Charles III was revealed, designed by
Martin Jennings Martin Jennings, FRBS (born 31 July 1957, in Chichester, West Sussex) a British sculptor who works in the figurative tradition, in bronze and stone. His statue of John Betjeman at St Pancras railway station was unveiled in 2007 and the statu ...
. All current coins carry a Latin inscription whose full form is , meaning " Elizabeth II, by the grace of God, Queen and
Defender of the Faith Defender of the Faith ( la, Fidei Defensor or, specifically feminine, '; french: Défenseur de la Foi) is a phrase that has been used as part of the full style of many English, Scottish, and later British monarchs since the early 16th century. It ...
". The inscription appears on the coins in any of several abbreviated forms, typically . Following the accession of Charles III, this will read as .


2008 redesign

In 2008, UK coins underwent an extensive redesign which eventually changed the reverse designs of all coins, the first wholesale change to British coinage since the first decimal coins were introduced in April 1968. The major design feature was the introduction of a reverse design shared across six coins (1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p), that can be pieced together to form an image of the Royal Shield. This was the first time a coin design had been featured across multiple coins in this way. To summarize the reverse design changes made in 2008 and afterwards: * The 1p coin depicts the lower part of the first quarter and the upper part of the third quarter of the shield, showing the lions passant of England and the harp of Ireland respectively * The 2p coin depicts most of the second quarter of the shield, showing the lion rampant of Scotland * The 5p coin depicts the centre of the shield, showing the meeting and parts of the constituent parts of the shield * The 10p coin depicts most of the first quarter of the shield, containing the three lions passant of England * The 20p coin depicts the lower part of the second quarter and upper part of the fourth quarter, showing the lion rampant of Scotland and the lions passant of England respectively * The 50p coin depicts the point of the shield and the bottom portions of the second and third quarters showing the harp of Ireland and lions passant of England respectively * The round, nickel-brass £1 coin from 2008–2016 depicted the whole of the Royal Shield. From 2017 it was changed to a bimetallic 12-sided coin depicting a rose,
leek The leek is a vegetable, a cultivar of ''Allium ampeloprasum'', the broadleaf wild leek ( syn. ''Allium porrum''). The edible part of the plant is a bundle of leaf sheaths that is sometimes erroneously called a stem or stalk. The genus ''Alli ...
, thistle and
shamrock A shamrock is a young sprig, used as a symbol of Ireland. Saint Patrick, Ireland's patron saint, is said to have used it as a metaphor for the Christian Holy Trinity. The name ''shamrock'' comes from Irish (), which is the diminutive of ...
bound by a crown. * The £2 coin from 2015 depicts Britannia. The original intention was to exclude both the £1 and £2 coins from the redesign because they were "relatively new additions" to the coinage, but it was later decided to include a £1 coin with a complete Royal Shield design from 2008 to 2016, and the 2015 redesign of the £2 coin occurred due to complaints over the disappearance of Britannia's image from the 50p coin in 2008. On all coins, the beading (ring of small dots) around the edge of the obverses has been removed. The obverse of the 20p coin has also been amended to incorporate the year, which had been on the reverse of the coin since its introduction in 1982 (giving rise to an unusual issue of a
mule The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two pos ...
version without any date at all). The orientation of both sides of the 50p coin has been rotated through 180 degrees, meaning the bottom of the coin is now a corner rather than a flat edge. The numerals showing the decimal value of each coin, previously present on all coins except the £1 and £2, have been removed, leaving the values spelled out in words only. The redesign was the result of a competition launched by the Royal Mint in August 2005, which closed on 14 November 2005. The competition was open to the public and received over 4,000 entries. The winning entry was unveiled on 2 April 2008, designed by Matthew Dent. The Royal Mint stated the new designs were "reflecting a twenty-first century Britain". An advisor to the Royal Mint described the new coins as " post-modern" and said that this was something that could not have been done 50 years previously. The redesign was criticised by some for having no specifically Welsh symbol (such as the Welsh Dragon), because the Royal Shield does not include a specifically Welsh symbol. Wrexham Member of Parliament (MP) Ian Lucas, who was also campaigning to have the Welsh Dragon included on the Union Flag, called the omission "disappointing", and stated that he would be writing to the Queen to request that the Royal Standard be changed to include Wales. The Royal Mint stated that "the Shield of the Royal Arms is symbolic of the whole of the United Kingdom and as such, represents Wales, Scotland, England and Northern Ireland.""Wales short-changed by new coin designs"
, ''Daily Post'' (North Wales), 3 April 2008
Designer Dent stated "I am a Welshman and proud of it, but I never thought about the fact we did not have a dragon or another representation of Wales on the design because as far as I am concerned Wales is represented on the Royal Arms. This was never an issue for me." The Royal Mint's choice of an inexperienced coin designer to produce the new coinage was criticised by Virginia Ironside, daughter of
Christopher Ironside Christopher Ironside OBE, FRBS (11 July 1913, London – 13 July 1992, Winchester, Hampshire) was an English painter and coin designer, particularly known for the reverse sides of the new British coins issued on decimalisation in 1971. Life ...
who designed the previous UK coins. She stated that the new designs were "totally unworkable as actual coins", due to the loss of a numerical currency identifier, and the smaller typeface used. The German news magazine ''
Der Spiegel ''Der Spiegel'' (, lit. ''"The Mirror"'') is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of 695,100 copies, it was the largest such publication in Europe in 2011. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...
'' claimed that the redesign signalled the UK's intention " not to join the euro any time soon".


Changes after 2008

As of 2012, 5p and 10p coins have been issued in nickel-plated steel, and much of the remaining cupronickel types withdrawn, in order to retrieve more expensive metals. The new coins are 11% thicker to maintain the same weight. There are heightened nickel allergy concerns over the new coins. Studies commissioned by the Royal Mint found no increased discharge of nickel from the coins when immersed in artificial sweat. However, an independent study found that the friction from handling results in four times as much nickel exposure as from the older-style coins. Sweden already plans to desist from using nickel in coins from 2015. In 2016, the £1 coin's composition was changed from a single-metal round shape to a 12-sided bi-metal design, with a slightly larger diameter, and with multiple past designs discontinued in favor of a single, unchanging design. Production of the new coins started in 2016, with the first, dated 2016, entering circulation 28 March 2017. In February 2015, the Royal Mint announced a new design for the £2 coin featuring Britannia by Antony Dufort, with no change to its bimetallic composition. Edge inscriptions on British coins used to be commonly encountered on round £1 coins of 1983–2016, but are nowadays found only on £2 coins. The standard-issue
£2 coin The United Kingdom, British two pound (£2) coin is a denomination of Coins of the United Kingdom, sterling coinage. Its obverse has featured the profile of Queen Elizabeth II since the coin’s introduction. Three different portraits of the Quee ...
from 1997 to 2015 carried the edge inscription . The redesigned coin since 2015 has a new edge inscription , Latin for "I will claim the four seas", an inscription previously found on coins bearing the image of Britannia. Other commemorative £2 coins have their own unique edge inscriptions or designs.


Obsolete denominations

The following decimal coins have been withdrawn from circulation and have ceased to be legal tender. * The specifications and dates of 5p, 10p, and 50p coins refer to the larger sizes issued since 1968. † The specification refers to the round coin issued from 1983–2016. Although obsolete, this coin is still redeemable at banks and the British railway systems, and is still legal tender on the Isle of Man.


Commemorative issues


Circulating commemorative designs

Circulating fifty pence and two pound coins have been issued with various commemorative reverse designs, typically to mark the anniversaries of historical events or the births of notable people. Three commemorative designs were issued of the large version of the 50p: in 1973 (the
EEC The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...
), 1992–3 ( EC presidency) and 1994 (
D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...
anniversary). Commemorative designs of the smaller 50p coin have been issued (alongside the Britannia standard issue) in 1998 (two designs), 2000, and from 2003 to 2007 yearly (two designs in 2006). For a complete list, see Fifty pence (British decimal coin). Prior to 1997, the two pound coin was minted in commemorative issues only – in 1986, 1989, 1994, 1995 and 1996. Commemorative £2 coins have been regularly issued since 1999, alongside the standard-issue bi-metallic coins which were introduced in 1997. One or two designs have been minted each year, with the exception of none in 2000, and four regional 2002 issues marking the
2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002 were held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August, 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coin ...
in Manchester. As well as a distinct reverse design, these coins have an edge inscription relevant to the subject. The anniversary themes are continued until at least 2009, with two designs announced. For a complete list, see
Two pounds (British decimal coin) The United Kingdom, British two pound (£2) coin is a denomination of Coins of the United Kingdom, sterling coinage. Its obverse has featured the profile of Queen Elizabeth II since the coin’s introduction. Three different portraits of the Quee ...
. From 2018–2019 a series of 10p coins with 26 different designs was put in circulation "celebrating Great Britain with The Royal Mint’s Quintessentially British A to Z series of coins".


Non-circulating denominations

The following are special-issue commemorative coins, seldom encountered in normal circulation due to their precious metal content or collectible value, but are still considered legal tender. *
Twenty-five pence The British decimal twenty-five pence (25p) coin was a commemorative denomination of sterling coinage issued in four designs between 1972 and 1981. These coins were a post-decimalisation continuation of the traditional crown, with the same valu ...
or crown (25p; £0.25), 1972–1981 * Five pounds or crown (£5), 1990–presen

* Twenty pounds (British coin), Twenty pounds (£20), 2013–present * Fifty pounds (£50), 2015–2016 * One hundred pounds (£100), 2015–2016


Legal tender status of commemorative coins

The prolific issuance since 2013 of silver commemorative £20, £50 and £100 coins at face value has led to attempts to spend or deposit these coins, prompting the
Royal Mint The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's oldest company and the official maker of British coins. Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly owned by His Majesty's Treasury and is under an exclus ...
to clarify the legal tender status of these silver coins as well as the cupronickel £5 coin. Royal Mint guidelines advise that, although these coins were approved as legal tender, they are considered limited edition collectables not intended for general circulation, and hence shops and banks are not obliged to accept them.


Maundy money

Maundy money Royal Maundy is a religious service in the Church of England held on Maundy Thursday, the day before Good Friday. At the service, the British monarch or a royal official ceremonially distributes small silver coins known as "Maundy money" (legal ...
is a ceremonial coinage traditionally given to the poor, and nowadays awarded annually to deserving senior citizens. There are Maundy coins in denominations of one, two, three and four pence. They bear dates from 1822 to the present and are minted in very small quantities. Though they are legal tender in the UK, they are rarely or never encountered in circulation. The pre-decimal Maundy pieces have the same legal tender status and value as post-decimal ones, and effectively increased in face value by 140% upon decimalisation. Their
numismatic Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also includ ...
value is much greater. Maundy coins still bear the original portrait of the Queen as used in the circulating coins of the first years of her reign.


Bullion coinage

The traditional bullion coin issued by Britain is the gold sovereign, formerly a circulating coin worth 20 shillings (or one pound) and with of fine gold, but now with a nominal value of one pound. The Royal Mint continues to produce sovereigns, as well as
quarter sovereign The quarter sovereign is a British bullion or collectors' coin, whose introduction was announced by the Royal Mint in January 2009. Comprising 1.997 grams of 22 carat or 0.9170 fine gold (the crown gold standard), the 13.5 mm diameter ...
s (introduced in 2009), half sovereigns,
double sovereign The double sovereign is a gold coin of the United Kingdom, with a nominal value of two pounds sterling (£2) or forty shillings. It was first minted using the design by Benedetto Pistrucci in 1820 under the reign of George III and never entered ...
s and
quintuple sovereign The five pound gold coin is a British coin with a nominal value of five pounds sterling, produced in several periods since the early 19th century. Since 1990 it is also known as the five-sovereign piece or quintuple sovereign as it is equivalent ...
s. Between 1987 and 2012 a series of bullion coins, the Britannia, was issued, containing 1 troy ounce (31.1 g), ounce, ounce and ounce of fine gold at a millesimal fineness of 916 (22 carat) and with face values of £100, £50, £25, and £10. Since 2013 Britannia bullion contains 1 troy ounce of fine gold at a millesimal fineness of 999 (24 carat). Between 1997 and 2012 silver bullion coins have also been produced under the name "Britannias". The alloy used was Britannia silver (millesimal fineness 958). The silver coins were available in 1 troy ounce (31.1 g), ounce, ounce and ounce sizes. Since 2013 the alloy used is silver at a (millesimal fineness 999). In 2016
the Royal Mint The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's oldest company and the official maker of British coins. Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly owned by His Majesty's Treasury and is under an exclus ...
launched a series of 10 Queen's Beasts bullion coins, one for each beast available in both gold and silver. The Royal Mint also issues silver, gold and platinum proof sets of the circulating coins, as well as gift products such as gold coins set into jewellery.


Non-UK coinage

Outside the United Kingdom, the British Crown Dependencies of Jersey and
Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...
use the pound sterling as their currencies. However, they produce local issues of coinage in the same denominations and specifications, but with different designs. These circulate freely alongside UK coinage and English, Northern Irish, and Scottish banknotes within these territories, but must be converted in order to be used in the UK. The island of
Alderney Alderney (; french: Aurigny ; Auregnais: ) is the northernmost of the inhabited Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown dependency. It is long and wide. The island's area is , making it the third-largest ...
also produces occasional commemorative coins. ''(See
coins of the Jersey pound The pound (french: Livre de Jersey, Jèrriais: Louis de Jersey; abbreviation: JEP; sign: £) is the currency of Jersey. Jersey is in currency union with the United Kingdom, and the Jersey pound is not a separate currency but is an issue of ban ...
,
coins of the Guernsey pound The pound is the currency of Guernsey. Since 1921, Guernsey has been in currency union with the United Kingdom and the Guernsey pound is not a separate currency but is a local issue of sterling banknotes and coins, in a similar way to the bankno ...
, and Alderney pound for details.)''. The Isle of Man is a unique case among the Crown Dependencies, issuing its own currency, the
Manx pound The pound (; abbreviation: IMP; sign: £) is the currency of the Isle of Man, at parity with sterling. The Manx pound is divided into 100 pence. Notes and coins, denominated in pounds and pence, are issued by the Isle of Man Government. Pari ...
. While the Isle of Man recognises the Pound Sterling as a secondary currency,
coins of the Manx pound The official coinage of the Isle of Man are denominated in Manx pounds. From 1971 to 2016, coins of the Isle of Man were minted by Pobjoy Mint Limited.
are not legal tender in the UK. The pound sterling is also the official currency of the
British overseas territories The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remna ...
of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands produces occasional special collectors' sets of coins. In 2008, British Antarctic Territory issued a £2 coin commemorating the centenary of Britain's claim to the region. The currencies of the
British overseas territories The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remna ...
of
Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...
, the Falkland Islands and
Saint Helena Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...
/ Ascension — namely the
Gibraltar pound The pound ( sign: £; ISO code: GIP) is the currency of Gibraltar. It is pegged to – and exchangeable with – sterling at par value. Coins and banknotes of the Gibraltar pound are issued by the Government of Gibraltar. History Until 1872, ...
, Falkland Islands pound and Saint Helena pound — are pegged one-to-one to the pound sterling but are technically separate currencies. These territories issue their own coinage, again with the same denominations and specifications as the UK coinage but with local designs, as coins of the Gibraltar pound,
coins of the Falkland Islands pound The pound is the currency of the Falkland Islands, a British Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic Ocean. The symbol is the pound sign, £. The ISO 4217 currency code is ''FKP''. The Falkland Islands pound has always been pegged to sterling ...
and
coins of the Saint Helena pound The pound is the currency of the Atlantic islands of Saint Helena and Ascension, which are constituent parts of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. It is fixed at parity with sterling, and so both c ...
. The other British overseas territories do not use sterling as their official currency.


Pre-decimal coinage


System

Before decimalisation in 1971, the pound was divided into 240 pence rather than 100, though it was rarely expressed in this way. Rather it was expressed in terms of pounds,
shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence o ...
s and
pence A penny is a coin ( pennies) or a unit of currency (pl. pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. Presently, it is th ...
, where: * £1 = 20 shillings (20s). * 1 shilling = 12 pence (12d). Thus: £1 = 240d. The penny was further subdivided at various times, though these divisions vanished as inflation made them irrelevant: * 1 penny = 2 halfpennies and (earlier) 4 farthings (
half farthing The United Kingdom, British half farthing was a denomination of Coins of the United Kingdom, sterling coinage worth of a Pound (currency), pound, of a Shilling (British coin), shilling, or of a Penny (British pre-decimal coin), penny. It was mi ...
, a third of a farthing, and quarter farthing coins were minted in the late 19th century, and into the early 20th century in the case of the third farthing, but circulated only in certain British colonies and not in the UK). Using the example of five shillings and sixpence, the standard ways of writing shillings and pence were: * 5s 6d * 5/6 * 5/- for 5 shillings only, with the dash to stand for zero pennies. The sum of 5/6 would be spoken as "five shillings and sixpence" or "five and six". The abbreviation for the old penny, d, was derived from the Roman '' denarius'', and the abbreviation for the shilling, s, from the Roman '' solidus''. The shilling was also denoted by the slash symbol, also called a solidus for this reason, which was originally an adaptation of the long s. The symbol " £", for the pound, is derived from the first letter of the Latin word for pound, ''libra''. A similar pre-decimal system operated in France, also based on the
Roman currency Roman currency for most of Roman history consisted of gold, silver, bronze, orichalcum and copper coinage. From its introduction to the Republic, during the third century BC, well into Imperial times, Roman currency saw many changes in form, denomi ...
, consisting of the '' livre'' (L), ''sol'' or ''sou'' (s) and ''denier'' (d). Until 1816 another similar system was used in the Netherlands, consisting of the ''
gulden ''Gulden'' is the historical German and Dutch term for gold coin (from Middle High German "golden penny" and Middle Dutch " golden florin"), equivalent to the English term guilder. Gulden, Gülden, Guldens or Gulden's may also refer to: Coins o ...
'' (G), ''
stuiver The stuiver was a coin used in the Netherlands, worth Dutch Guilders ( 16 ''penning'' or 8 ''duit'', later 5 cents). It was also minted on the Lower Rhine region and the Dutch colonies. The word can still refer to the 5 euro cent coin, which ...
'' (s;  G) and '' duit'', (d;  s or  G).


Denominations

In the years just prior to decimalisation, the circulating British coins were: The
farthing Farthing or farthings may refer to: Coinage *Farthing (British coin), an old British coin valued one quarter of a penny ** Half farthing (British coin) ** Third farthing (British coin) ** Quarter farthing (British coin) *Farthing (English coi ...
(d) had been demonetised on 1 January 1961, whilst the crown (5/-) was issued periodically as a commemorative coin but rarely found in circulation. The crown, half crown, florin, shilling, and sixpence were cupronickel coins (in historical times silver or silver alloy); the penny, halfpenny, and farthing were bronze; and the threepence was a twelve-sided nickel-brass coin (historically it was a small silver coin). Some of the pre-decimalisation coins with exact decimal equivalent values continued in use after 1971 alongside the new coins, albeit with new names (the
shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence o ...
became equivalent to the 5p coin, with the
florin The Florentine florin was a gold coin struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains (3.499 grams, 0.113 troy ounce) of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a purcha ...
equating to 10p), and the others were withdrawn almost immediately. The use of florins and shillings as legal tender in this way ended in 1991 and 1993 when the 5p and 10p coins were replaced with smaller versions. Indeed, while pre-decimalisation shillings were used as 5p coins, for a while after decimalisation many people continued to call the new 5p coin a shilling, since it remained of a pound, but was now counted as 5p (five new pence) instead of 12d (twelve old pennies). The pre-decimalisation sixpence, also known as a sixpenny bit or sixpenny piece, was equivalent to p, but was demonetised in 1980.


Slang and everyday usage

Some pre-decimalisation coins or denominations became commonly known by colloquial and slang terms, perhaps the most well known being ''bob'' for a
shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence o ...
, and '' quid'' for a pound. A
farthing Farthing or farthings may refer to: Coinage *Farthing (British coin), an old British coin valued one quarter of a penny ** Half farthing (British coin) ** Third farthing (British coin) ** Quarter farthing (British coin) *Farthing (English coi ...
was a ''mag'', a silver threepence was a '' joey'' and the later nickel-brass threepence was called a ''
threepenny bit The British threepence piece, usually simply known as a threepence, ''thruppence'', or ''thruppenny bit'', was a denomination of sterling coinage worth of one pound or of one shilling. It was used in the United Kingdom, and earlier in Great ...
'' ( or bit, i.e. thrup'ny or threp'ny bit – the apostrophe was pronounced on a scale from full "e" down to complete omission); a sixpence was a ''tanner'', the two-shilling coin or
florin The Florentine florin was a gold coin struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains (3.499 grams, 0.113 troy ounce) of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a purcha ...
was a ''two-bob bit''. Bob is still used in phrases such as "earn/worth a bob or two", and "bob‐a‐job week". The two shillings and sixpence coin or half-crown was a ''half-dollar'', also sometimes referred to as ''two and a kick''. A value of two pence was universally pronounced ''tuppence'', a usage which is still heard today, especially among older people. The unaccented suffix "-pence", pronounced , was similarly appended to the other numbers up to twelve; thus "fourpence", "sixpence-three-farthings", "twelvepence-ha'penny", but "eighteen pence" would usually be said "one-and-six". ''Quid'' remains as popular slang for one or more pounds to this day in Britain in the form "a quid" and then "two quid", and so on. Similarly, in some parts of the country, ''bob'' continued to represent one-twentieth of a pound, that is five new pence, and ''two bob'' is 10p. The introduction of decimal currency caused a new casual usage to emerge, where any value in pence is spoken using the suffix ''pee'': e.g. "twenty-three pee" or, in the early years, "two-and-a-half pee" rather than the previous "tuppence-ha'penny". Amounts over a pound are normally spoken thus: "five pounds forty". A value with less than ten pence over the pound is sometimes spoken like this: "one pound and a penny", "three pounds and fourpence". The slang term "bit" has almost disappeared from use completely, although in Scotland a fifty pence is sometimes referred to as a "ten bob bit". Decimal denomination coins are generally described using the terms ''piece'' or coin, for example, "a fifty-pee piece", a "ten-pence coin".


Monarch's profile

All coins since the 17th century have featured a profile of the current monarch's head. The direction in which they face changes with each successive monarch, a pattern that began with the
Stuarts The House of Stuart, originally spelt Stewart, was a royal house of Scotland, England, Ireland and later Great Britain. The family name comes from the office of High Steward of Scotland, which had been held by the family progenitor Walter fi ...
, as shown in the table below: For the Tudors and pre-Restoration Stuarts, both left- and right-facing portrait images were minted within the reign of a single monarch (left-facing images were more common). In the Middle Ages, portrait images tended to be full face. There was a small quirk in this alternating pattern when
Edward VIII Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire and Emperor of India from 20 January 19 ...
became king in January 1936 and was portrayed facing left, the same as his predecessor George V. This was because Edward thought his left side to be better than his right. However, Edward VIII
abdicated Abdication is the act of formally relinquishing monarchical authority. Abdications have played various roles in the succession procedures of monarchies. While some cultures have viewed abdication as an extreme abandonment of duty, in other societ ...
in December 1936 and his coins were never put into general circulation. When George VI came to the throne, he had his coins struck with him facing the left, as if Edward VIII's coins had faced right (as they should have done according to tradition). Thus, in a timeline of circulating British coins, George V and VI's coins both feature left-facing portraits, although they follow directly chronologically.


Regal titles

From a very early date, British coins have been inscribed with the name of the ruler of the kingdom in which they were produced, and a longer or shorter title, always in Latin; among the earliest distinctive English coins are the silver pennies of
Offa of Mercia Offa (died 29 July 796 AD) was List of monarchs of Mercia, King of Mercia, a kingdom of History of Anglo-Saxon England, Anglo-Saxon England, from 757 until his death. The son of Thingfrith and a descendant of Eowa of Mercia, Eowa, Offa came to ...
, which were inscribed with the legend "King Offa". As the legends became longer, words in the inscriptions were often abbreviated so that they could fit on the coin; identical legends have often been abbreviated in different ways depending upon the size and decoration of the coin. Inscriptions which go around the edge of the coin generally have started at the center of the top edge and proceeded in a clockwise direction. A very lengthy legend would be continued on the reverse side of the coin. All monarchs used Latinised names, save Edward III, both Elizabeths, and Charles III (which would have been EDWARDUS, ELIZABETHA, and CAROLUS respectively).


Coins in the colonies

Some coins made for circulation in the British colonies are considered part of British coinage because they have no indication of what country it was minted for and they were made in the same style as contemporary coins circulating in the United Kingdom. A three halfpence ( pence, of a pound) coin was circulated mainly in the West Indies and
Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
in the starting in 1834. Jamaicans referred to the coin as a "quatty". The
half farthing The United Kingdom, British half farthing was a denomination of Coins of the United Kingdom, sterling coinage worth of a Pound (currency), pound, of a Shilling (British coin), shilling, or of a Penny (British pre-decimal coin), penny. It was mi ...
( of a penny, of a pound) coin was initially minted in 1828 for use in Ceylon, but was declared legal tender in the United Kingdom in 1842. The
third farthing The one-third farthing was a British coin worth of a pound, of a shilling, or of a penny. It was minted in copper in 1827, 1835, and 1844, and in bronze in various years between 1866 and 1913. While exclusively authorised for use in the C ...
( of a penny, of a pound) coin was minted for use in Malta, starting in 1827. The quarter farthing ( of a penny, of a pound) coin was minted for use in Ceylon starting in 1839.


Mottos

In addition to the title, a Latin or French motto might be included, generally on the reverse side of the coin. These varied between denominations and issues; some were personal to the monarch, others were more general. Some of the mottos were: * "I have made God my helper". Coins of Henry VII,
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
, Elizabeth I. Possibly refers to
Psalm 52 Psalm 52 is the 52nd psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man?". In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate tr ...
:7, ''Ecce homo qui non-posuit Deum adjutorem suum'' "Behold the man who did not make God his helper". * "A dazzling rose without a thorn". Coins of
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
and Edward VI. Initially on the unsuccessful and very rare Crown of the Rose of Henry VIII and continued on subsequent small gold coinage into the reign of Edward VI. * "We have made God our helper". Coins of
Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...
and Mary. The same as above, but with a plural subject. * "I shall make them into one nation". Coins of James I, signifying his desire to unite the English and Scottish nations. Refers to
Ezekiel Ezekiel (; he, יְחֶזְקֵאל ''Yəḥezqēʾl'' ; in the Septuagint written in grc-koi, Ἰεζεκιήλ ) is the central protagonist of the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible. In Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Ezekiel is acknow ...
37:22 in the Vulgate Bible. * "I reign with Christ as my protector". Coins of Charles I. * "May God rise up, may isenemies be scattered". Coins of Charles I, during the Civil War. Refers to Psalm 67:1 in the Vulgate Bible (
Psalm 68 Psalm 68 is the 68th psalm of the Book of Psalms, or Psalm 67 in Septuagint and Vulgate numbering. In the English of the King James Version it begins "Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered". In the Latin Vulgate version it begins "Exsurgat ...
in English Bible numbering). * "Peace is sought by war". Coins of the Protectorate; personal motto of Oliver Cromwell. * "Britain". Reign of Charles II to George III. Found on pennies and smaller denominations. * . "Shamed be he who thinks ill of it." Sovereigns of George III. Motto of the
Order of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the George C ...
. * . "A decoration and protection." Some pound coins of
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during h ...
and some crown coins including some of Victoria and George V. Refers to the inscribed edge as a protection against the clipping of precious metal, as well as being a complimentary reference to the monarch and the monarchy.


Minting errors reaching circulation

Coins with errors in the minting process that reach circulation are often seen as valuable items by coin collectors. In 1983, the Royal Mint mistakenly produced some two pence pieces with the old wording "New Pence" on the reverse (tails) side, when the design had been changed from 1982 to "Two Pence". In 2016, a batch of double-dated £1 coins was released into circulation. These coins had the main date on the obverse stating '2017', but the micro-engraving having '2016' on it. it is not known how many exist and are in circulation, but the amount is fewer than half a million. In June 2009, the Royal Mint estimated that between 50,000 and 200,000 dateless 20 pence coins had entered circulation, the first undated British coin to enter circulation in more than 300 years. It resulted from the accidental combination of old and new face
tooling Tooling may refer to: * Machine tools and the tooling, such as cutting tools, fixtures, and accessories, that is used on them ** Cutting tool (machining), any of hundreds of kinds of cutters ** Fixture (tool), a fixed workholding or support devic ...
in a production batch, creating what is known as a
mule The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two pos ...
, following the 2008 redesign which moved the date from the reverse (tails) to the obverse (heads) side.


See also

* Banknotes of the pound sterling * List of British bank notes and coins * Mark (money) * Non-decimal currency *
One hundred pounds (British coin) The one hundred pound coin (£100) is a commemorative denomination of sterling coinage. Issued for the first time by the Royal Mint in 2015 and sold at face value, £100 coins hold legal tender status but are intended as collectors' items an ...
*
Roman currency Roman currency for most of Roman history consisted of gold, silver, bronze, orichalcum and copper coinage. From its introduction to the Republic, during the third century BC, well into Imperial times, Roman currency saw many changes in form, denomi ...
*
Twenty pounds (British coin) The British twenty pound (£20) coin is a commemorative denomination of sterling coinage, first issued by the Royal Mint in 2013. It is minted in .999 fine silver. Twenty pound coins are legal tender but are intended as souvenirs and are almost ...


References


External links


Clayton, Tony: Coins of England and Great Britain



UK Coin Designs and Specifications
from the
Royal Mint The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's oldest company and the official maker of British coins. Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly owned by His Majesty's Treasury and is under an exclus ...
's website
Coin Designs
— Royal Mint competition designs
United Kingdom: Coins Issued and Used
– list of all UK coins, with photos and descriptions

– converts £sd to decimal currency

– converts decimal currency to £sd {{Economy of the United Kingdom * Currencies of British Overseas Territories Currencies of the Crown Dependencies Currencies of the United Kingdom Pre-decimalisation coins of the United Kingdom