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Five pence (British coin) facts for kids

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Five pence
United Kingdom
Value £0.05
Mass (1968–1990) 5.65 g
(1990–present) 3.25 g
Diameter (1968–1990) 23.59 mm
(1990–present) 18.00 mm
Thickness (Cupro-nickel) 1.7 mm
(Steel) 1.89 mm
Edge Milled
Composition Cupronickel (1968–2010)
Nickel-plated steel (2011–)
Years of minting 1968–present
Obverse
British five pence coin 2016 obverse.png
Design Queen Elizabeth II
Designer Jody Clark
Design date 2015
Reverse
British five pence coin 2015 reverse.png
Design Segment of the Royal Shield
Designer Matthew Dent
Design date 2008

The British decimal five pence coin (often shortened to 5p in writing and speech) is a denomination of sterling coinage worth 5100 of a pound. Its obverse has featured the profile of Queen Elizabeth II since the coin’s introduction on 23 April 1968, replacing the shilling in preparation for decimalisation in 1971. It remained the same size as the one shilling coin, which also remained legal tender, until a smaller version was introduced in June 1990 with the older coins being withdrawn on 31 December 1990. Four different portraits of the Queen have been used, with the latest design by Jody Clark being introduced in 2015. The second and current reverse, featuring a segment of the Royal Shield, was introduced in 2008.

5p coins are legal tender 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.

The five pence coin was originally minted from cupro-nickel (75% Cu, 25% Ni), but since 2011 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 previous cupro-nickel coins from circulation with replacement by the nickel-plated steel versions.

As of March 2014, an estimated 3,847 million 5p coins were in circulation with an estimated face value of £192.370 million.

Design

British five pence coin 1990 reverse
Thistle design reverse: 1982–2008

The original reverse of the coin, designed by Christopher Ironside, and used from 1968 to 2008, is a crowned thistle (formally, The Badge of Scotland, a thistle royally crowned), with the numeral "5" below the thistle, and either NEW PENCE (1968–1981) or FIVE PENCE (1982–2008) above the thistle.

To date, three different obverses have been used. In all cases, the inscription is ELIZABETH II D.G.REG.F.D. 2013, where 2013 is replaced 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 Queen Elizabeth II by Arnold Machin appeared on the obverse, in which the Queen wears the '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 27 June 1990 a reduced size version of the five pence coin was introduced. The older larger coins were withdrawn on 31 December 1990. The design remained unchanged.

From 1998 to 2015, the portrait by Ian Rank-Broadley was used, again featuring the tiara, with a signature-mark IRB below the portrait.

As of June 2015, coins bearing the portrait by Jody Clark have been seen in circulation.

In August 2005 the Royal Mint launched a 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 Shield that form the whole shield when placed together. The shield in its entirety was featured on the now-obsolete round £1 coin. The 5p coin depicts the centre of the Royal shield, showing the meeting point of the four quarters. The coin's obverse remains largely unchanged, but the beading (the ring of dots around the coin's circumference), which no longer features on the coin's reverse, has also been removed from the obverse.

Status as legal tender

5p coins are legal tender for amounts up to and including £5. However, in the UK, "legal tender" has a very specific and narrow meaning which relates only to the repayment of debt to a creditor, not to everyday shopping or other transactions. Specifically, coins of particular denominations are said to be "legal tender" when a creditor must by law accept them in redemption of a debt. The term does not mean – as is often thought – that a shopkeeper has to accept a particular type of currency in payment. A shopkeeper is under no obligation to accept any specific type of payment, whether legal tender or not; conversely they have the discretion to accept any payment type they wish.

Mintages

Number of five pence coins minted for circulation by year
Year Number minted Composition Diameter (mm) Portrait Reverse
1968 98,868,250 Cupro-nickel 23.59 Machin Ironside
1969 120,270,000
1970 225,948,525
1971 81,783,475
1972 0
1973 0
1974 0
1975 141,539,000
1976 0
1977 24,308,000
1978 61,094,000
1979 155,456,000
1980 220,566,000
1981 0
1982 0
1983 0
1984 0
1985 0 Maklouf
1986 0
1987 48,220,000
1988 120,744,610
1989 101,406,000
1990 1,634,976,005 18.00
1991 724,979,000
1992 453,173,500
1993 0
1994 93,602,000
1995 183,384,000
1996 302,902,000
1997 236,596,000
1998 217,376,000 Rank-Broadley
1999 195,490,000
2000 388,512,000
2001 337,930,000
2002 219,258,000
2003 333,230,000
2004 271,810,000
2005 236,212,000
2006 317,697,000
2007 246,720,000
2008 92,880,000
165,172,000 Dent
2009 132,960,300
2010 396,245,500
2011 50,400,000 Nickel-plated steel
2012 339,802,350
2013 378,800,750
2014 885,004,520
2015 163,000,000
536,600,000 Clark
2016 305,740,000
2017 220,515,000
2018 0
2019 92,800,000
2020 49,200,000
2021 28,000,000
2022 42,800,000

Mint Sets have been produced since 1982; where mintages on or after that date indicate 'none', there are examples contained within those sets.

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