Ten pence (British coin)
Template:Short description Template:Infobox coin The British decimal ten pence coin (often shortened to 10p in writing and speech) is a denomination of sterling coinage worth Template:Frac 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It remained the same size as the florin (which also remained legal tender) until a smaller version was introduced on 30 September 1992, with the older coins and the pre-decimal florin being withdrawn on 30 June 1993.<ref name="EckettPearce2008">Template:Cite book</ref>
The ten pence coin was originally minted from cupro-nickel (75% Cu, 25% Ni), 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Template:As of there were an estimated 1,631 million 10p coins in circulation, with an estimated face value of £163.08 million.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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 Template:Small,<ref name="bcoins">Template:Cite web</ref> 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,<ref name="design">Template:Cite web</ref> in which the Queen wears the 'Girls of Great Britain and Ireland' Tiara.
Between 1985 and 1997 the portrait by Raphael Maklouf was used,<ref name="design" /> 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 The older and larger version of the coin was withdrawn from circulation on 30 June 1993.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,<ref name="design" /> again featuring the tiara, with a signature-mark Template:Small 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 (formally, Part of the crest of England, a lion passant guardant royally crowned), with the numeral "10" below the lion, and either NEW PENCE (1968–1981) or TEN PENCE (1982–2008) above the lion.
Royal Shield design
In August 2005 the Royal Mint launched a competition to find new reverse designs for all circulating coins apart from the £2 coin.<ref>"Royal Mint seeks new coin designs", BBC News, 17 August 2005</ref> The winner, announced in April 2008, was Matthew Dent, whose designs were gradually introduced into the circulating British coinage from mid-2008.<ref>"Royal Mint unveils new UK coins" Template:Webarchive, 2 April 2008</ref> 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 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 (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.
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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Div col
- A – Angel of the North
- B – Bond... James Bond
- C – Cricket
- D – Double-decker bus
- E – English breakfast
- F – Fish and chips
- G – Greenwich Mean Time
- H – Houses of Parliament
- I – Ice cream
- J – Jubilee
- K – King Arthur
- L – Loch Ness Monster
- M – Mackintosh
- N – NHS
- O – Oak tree
- P – Post box
- Q – Queuing
- R – Robin
- S – Stonehenge
- T – Tea
- U – Union Flag
- V – Village
- W – World Wide Web
- X – X marks the spot
- Y – Yeoman Warder
- Z – Zebra crossing
King Charles III definitive design
In October 2023 the King Charles III ten-pence coin was presented; the coin features a capercaillie.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Clear
Mintages
| Year | Number minted | Composition | Diameter (mm) | Portrait | Reverse |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | 336,143,250 | Cupro-nickel | Template:Nowrap | Machin | Ironside |
| 1969 | 314,008,000 | ||||
| 1970 | 133,571,000 | ||||
| 1971 | 63,205,000 | ||||
| 1972 | 0 | ||||
| 1973 | 152,174,000 | ||||
| 1974 | 92,741,000 | ||||
| 1975 | 181,559,000 | ||||
| 1976 | 228,220,000 | ||||
| 1977 | 59,323,000 | ||||
| 1978 | 0 | ||||
| 1979 | 115,457,000 | ||||
| 1980 | 88,650,000 | ||||
| 1981 | 3,487,000 | ||||
| 1982 | 0 | ||||
| 1983 | 0 | ||||
| 1984 | 0 | ||||
| 1985 | 0 | Maklouf | |||
| 1986 | 0 | ||||
| 1987 | 0 | ||||
| 1988 | 0 | ||||
| 1989 | 0 | ||||
| 1990 | 0 | ||||
| 1991 | 0 | ||||
| 1992 | 1,413,455,170 | 24.5 | |||
| 1993 | 0 | ||||
| 1994 | 0 | ||||
| 1995 | 43,259,000 | ||||
| 1996 | 118,738,000 | ||||
| 1997 | 99,196,000 | ||||
| 1998 | 0 | Rank-Broadley | |||
| 1999 | 0 | ||||
| 2000 | 134,733,000 | ||||
| 2001 | 129,281,000 | ||||
| 2002 | 80,934,000 | ||||
| 2003 | 88,118,000 | ||||
| 2004 | 99,602,000 | ||||
| 2005 | 69,604,000 | ||||
| 2006 | 118,803,000 | ||||
| 2007 | 72,720,000 | ||||
| 2008 | 9,720,000 | ||||
| 2008 | 71,447,000 | Dent | |||
| 2009 | 84,360,000 | ||||
| 2010 | 96,600,500 | ||||
| 2011 | 59,603,850 | ||||
| 2012 | 11,600,030 | Nickel-plated steel | |||
| 2013 | 320,200,750 | ||||
| 2014 | 490,202,020 | ||||
| 2015 | 119,000,000 | ||||
| 91,900,000 | Clark | ||||
| 2016 | 135,380,000 | ||||
| 2017 | 33,300,000 | ||||
| 2018 | 0 | Dent | |||
| 5,720,000 | A to Z | ||||
| 2019 | 0 | Dent | |||
| 2,100,000 | A to Z | ||||
| 2020 | 45,347,846 | Dent | |||
| 2021 | 71,200,000 | ||||
| 2022 | 38,000,000 | ||||
| 2023 | 600,000 | Jennings | The Royal Mint<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> |
| Year | Letter | Description | Number minted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | A | Angel of the North | 220,000 |
| B | Bond... James Bond | 220,000 | |
| C | Cricket | 220,000 | |
| D | Double Decker Bus | 220,000 | |
| E | English Breakfast | 220,000 | |
| F | Fish and Chips | 220,000 | |
| G | Greenwich Mean Time | 220,000 | |
| H | Houses of Parliament | 220,000 | |
| I | Ice Cream Cone | 220,000 | |
| J | Jubilee | 220,000 | |
| K | King Arthur | 220,000 | |
| L | Loch Ness Monster | 220,000 | |
| M | Mackintosh | 220,000 | |
| N | NHS | 220,000 | |
| O | Oak Tree | 220,000 | |
| P | Postbox | 220,000 | |
| Q | Queuing | 220,000 | |
| R | Robin | 220,000 | |
| S | Stonehenge | 220,000 | |
| T | Tea | 220,000 | |
| U | Union Flag | 220,000 | |
| V | Villages | 220,000 | |
| W | World Wide Web | 220,000 | |
| X | X Marks The Spot | 220,000 | |
| Y | Yeoman Warder | 220,000 | |
| Z | Zebra Crossing | 220,000 | |
| 2019 | A | Angel of the North | 84,000 |
| B | Bond... James Bond | 84,000 | |
| C | Cricket | 84,000 | |
| D | Double Decker Bus | 84,000 | |
| E | English Breakfast | 84,000 | |
| F | Fish and Chips | 84,000 | |
| G | Greenwich Mean Time | 84,000 | |
| H | Houses of Parliament | 84,000 | |
| I | Ice Cream Cone | 84,000 | |
| J | Jubilee | 84,000 | |
| K | King Arthur | 84,000 | |
| L | Loch Ness Monster | 84,000 | |
| M | Mackintosh | 84,000 | |
| N | NHS | 84,000 | |
| O | Oak Tree | 84,000 | |
| P | Postbox | 84,000 | |
| Q | Queuing | 83,000 | |
| R | Robin | 64,000 | |
| S | Stonehenge | 84,000 | |
| T | Tea | 84,000 | |
| U | Union Flag | 84,000 | |
| V | Villages | 84,000 | |
| W | World Wide Web | 63,000 | |
| X | X Marks The Spot | 84,000 | |
| Y | Yeoman Warder | 63,000 | |
| Z | Zebra Crossing | 63,000 |
Mint sets have been produced since 1982; where mintages on or after that date indicate '0', there are examples contained within those sets.