Ten pence (British coin)


The British decimal ten pence coin is a denomination of sterling coinage worth of a pound. Its obverse has featured the profile of the British monarch since the coin's introduction in 1968, to replace the florin (two shilling) coin in preparation for decimalisation in 1971. It remained the same size as the florin until a smaller version was introduced on 30 September 1992, with the older coins and the pre-decimal florin being withdrawn on 30 June 1993.
The ten pence coin was originally minted from cupro-nickel, but since 2012 it has been minted in nickel-plated steel due to the increasing price of metal. From January 2013 the Royal Mint began a programme to gradually remove the cupro-nickel coins from circulation and replace them with the nickel-plated steel versions.
there were an estimated 1,631 million 10p coins in circulation, with an estimated face value of £163.08 million.
Ten pence coins are legal tender for amounts up to the sum of £5 when offered in repayment of a debt; however, the coin's legal tender status is not normally relevant for everyday transactions.

Design

Obverse

During Queen Elizabeth II's reign, four different obverses were used. The inscription until 2015 was, followed by the year of minting. In the original design both sides of the coin are encircled by dots, a common feature on coins, known as beading.
As with all new decimal currency, until 1984 the portrait of Elizabeth II by Arnold Machin appeared on the obverse, in which the Queen wears the Girls of [Great Britain and Ireland Tiara|'Girls of Great Britain and Ireland' Tiara].
Between 1985 and 1997 the portrait by Raphael Maklouf was used, in which the Queen wears the George IV State Diadem.
On 30 September 1992 a reduced-size version of the 10 pence coin was introduced. The older and larger version of the coin was withdrawn from circulation on 30 June 1993. The design remained unchanged.
From 1998 to 2015 the portrait by Ian Rank-Broadley was used, again featuring the Girls of Great [Britain and Ireland Tiara|tiara], with a signature-mark below the portrait.
From 2015, the obverse featured a portrait by Jody Clark.

Reverse

Original reverse design

The original reverse of the coin, designed by Christopher Ironside, and used from 1968 to 2008, is a crowned lion, with the numeral "10" below the lion, and either NEW PENCE or TEN PENCE above the lion.

Royal Shield design

In August 2005 the Royal Mint launched a pound sterling#Reverse designs (from 2008)|competition] to find new reverse designs for all circulating coins apart from the £2 coin. The winner, announced in April 2008, was Matthew Dent, whose designs were gradually introduced into the circulating British coinage from mid-2008. The designs for the 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p and 50p coins depict sections of the Royal [coat of arms of the United Kingdom|Royal Shield] that form the whole shield when placed together. The shield in its entirety was featured on the now-obsolete round £1 coin. The 10p coin depicts part of the first quarter of the shield, showing two of the lions passant from the Royal Banner of England, with the words TEN PENCE above the shield design. The coin's obverse remains largely unchanged, but the beading, which no longer features on the coin's reverse, has also been removed from the obverse.

A to Z design (Great British Coin Hunt)

In March 2018, new designs were released, one for each of the 26 letters of the alphabet. Anne Jessopp, chief executive of the Royal Mint, described the designs as "iconic themes that are quintessentially British". The A to Z coins were confirmed to have individual mintage figures of 220,000 on 14 October 2019 – a total of 5,720,000 for all 26.

King Charles III definitive design

In October 2023 the King Charles III ten-pence coin was presented; the coin features a capercaillie.

Mintages

YearLetterDescriptionNumber minted
2018AAngel of the North220,000
2018BBond... James Bond220,000
2018CCricket220,000
2018DDouble Decker Bus220,000
2018EEnglish Breakfast220,000
2018FFish and Chips220,000
2018GGreenwich Mean Time220,000
2018HHouses of Parliament220,000
2018IIce Cream Cone220,000
2018JJubilee220,000
2018KKing Arthur220,000
2018LLoch Ness Monster220,000
2018MMackintosh220,000
2018NNHS220,000
2018OOak Tree220,000
2018PPostbox220,000
2018QQueuing220,000
2018RRobin220,000
2018SStonehenge220,000
2018TTea220,000
2018UUnion Flag220,000
2018VVillages220,000
2018WWorld Wide Web220,000
2018XX Marks The Spot220,000
2018YYeoman Warder220,000
2018ZZebra Crossing220,000
2019AAngel of the North84,000
2019BBond... James Bond84,000
2019CCricket84,000
2019DDouble Decker Bus84,000
2019EEnglish Breakfast84,000
2019FFish and Chips84,000
2019GGreenwich Mean Time84,000
2019HHouses of Parliament84,000
2019IIce Cream Cone84,000
2019JJubilee84,000
2019KKing Arthur84,000
2019LLoch Ness Monster84,000
2019MMackintosh84,000
2019NNHS84,000
2019OOak Tree84,000
2019PPostbox84,000
2019QQueuing83,000
2019RRobin64,000
2019SStonehenge84,000
2019TTea84,000
2019UUnion Flag84,000
2019VVillages84,000
2019WWorld Wide Web63,000
2019XX Marks The Spot84,000
2019YYeoman Warder63,000
2019ZZebra Crossing63,000

Mint sets have been produced since 1982; where mintages on or after that date indicate '0', there are examples contained within those sets.