Common: 10,000,000 or more minted. Rarely sells: 1 verified sales in the last 12 months.
1 Penny - Elizabeth II 4th portrait Royal Shield (2008–2015)
"Royal Shield 1p"
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Year | 2008–2015 |
| Denomination | 1 Penny |
| Face value | 1p |
| Mintage by year |
Scarcest year: 154,600,000 struck
|
| Mint | Royal Mint · Llantrisant |
| Series | Royal Shield Series |
| Circulation | Circulating |
| Composition | Copper plated steel |
| Weight | 3.560g |
| Diameter | 20.3mm |
| Thickness | 1.65mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Plain |
| Orientation | Medal alignment ↑↑ |
| Obv. artist | Ian Rank-Broadley |
| Rev. artist | Matthew Dent |
| Grade scale | UK (EF/UNC) |
Fourth crowned portrait of Queen Elizabeth II right, wearing the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara, legend around.
ELIZABETH II D G REG F D
Left part of Royal Shield, denomination in left segment.
ONE PENNY
Royal Shield 1p market value
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AffiliateRoyal Shield 1p price history
Daily limit reachedRoyal Shield 1p value by year
2008 to 2015 · median sold prices| Year | Mintage | Circulated | Uncirculated | Sales | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 507,952,000 | £1.16 (1) | 1 | ||
|
VF£12.50EF£28.00UNC£95.00
⭐ Pro: the 2008 coin's sales by grade, and the chart filtered to one year
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| 2009 | 556,412,800 | £1.16 type | |||
| 2010 | 609,603,000 | £1.16 type | |||
| 2011 | 431,004,000 | £1.16 type | |||
| 2012 | 227,201,000 | £1.16 type | |||
| 2013 | 260,800,000 | £1.16 type | |||
| 2014 | 464,801,520 | £1.16 type | |||
| 2015 scarcest | 154,600,000 | £1.16 type | |||
One row for each year the 1 Penny - Elizabeth II 4th portrait – Royal Shield was struck. Prices are medians of verified sold listings matched to that year from the listing: circulated is worn condition up to Extremely Fine, uncirculated is About Uncirculated or better. A count in brackets means fewer than three sales behind the figure; a grey figure marked "type" is the median across every year, shown where that year has no sale of its own yet; years with no sales yet fill in as sales are recorded. Most types have been searched year by year only since October 2026, so later years are still filling in. Use the grade table below for a price by condition across all years.
Royal Shield 1p value by grade
Realised auction prices · ⭐ Pro Expand rows for individual sale records| Grade | Latest | Median | 30d Δ | All-time range | Sales (1yr) | Total sales | Last sale | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VF | £1.16 🔒 eBay | £1.16 (1) | – | £1.16 – £1.16 | 1 | 1 | 10-06-2026 | |
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About the 2008 1 Penny - Elizabeth II – Royal Shield
The 2008 1 Penny - Elizabeth II – Royal Shield is a circulating 1 penny coin issued from 2008 to 2015 in the Royal Shield series, struck in copper plated steel. It weighs 3.56g and measures 20.3mm across. Reverse design: Left part of Royal Shield, denomination in left segment.
Mintage figures are recorded for 8 years between 2008 and 2015, 3,212,374,320 coins in all. 2015 is the scarcest date, with 154,600,000 struck.
Common questions
How much is the 2008 1 Penny - Elizabeth II – Royal Shield worth?
The 2008 1 Penny - Elizabeth II – Royal Shield has a price in one grade on MyCoinage so far: £1.16 in VF, the median of its verified sales.
How many Royal Shield 1p coins were made?
The Royal Mint's figures give 507,952,000 for 2008 and 3,212,374,320 for the eight dates from 2008 to 2015 with this portrait. The highest year is 2010 at 609,603,000 and the lowest is 2015 at 154,600,000.
Who designed the shield on the 1p?
Matthew Dent, a graphic designer from Bangor in North Wales. His designs were chosen from more than 4,000 entries in a public competition and unveiled by the Royal Mint on 2 April 2008. The Queen's portrait on these dates is by Ian Rank-Broadley.
What part of the Royal Shield is on the 1p?
The 2008 proclamation describes it as a section of the Royal Arms showing elements of the first and third quarterings, with the words ONE PENNY. Laid beside the 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p and 50p it forms the complete shield.
Is the 2008 to 2015 penny still legal tender?
Yes. The Royal Mint states that the 1p is legal tender for amounts up to 20 pence. These coins are copper-plated steel, the composition used since September 1992, and they continue to circulate with later pennies.
How do I identify the 2008 1 Penny - Elizabeth II – Royal Shield?
Check the weight 3.56g and diameter 20.3mm and the metal (copper plated steel) against the specification table on this page. The reverse design is described above.
History and design
For nearly 40 years the penny carried Christopher Ironside's portcullis. That ended in 2008, when the Royal Mint replaced the reverses of every coin from the 1p to the £1 in one move. The new designs were unveiled on 2 April 2008 after a public competition that drew more than 4,000 entries, and the Mint said the coins would enter circulation gradually from that summer.
The penny is the workhorse of the set. The Royal Mint's figures give 507,952,000 for 2008, with another 180,600,000 pennies of the old Ironside design struck in the same year. Across the eight dates from 2008 to 2015 the total is 3,212,374,320.
The highest year is 2010 at 609,603,000. The lowest is 2015 at 154,600,000, because that year was shared with the new fifth portrait, which accounts for a further 418,201,016.
The winning designer was Matthew Dent, then 26, from Bangor in North Wales. His six coins from 1p to 50p each show a detail of the Shield of the Royal Arms and form the whole shield when placed together. The proclamation of February 2008 describes the penny as a section of the Royal Arms showing elements of the first and third quarterings, with the words ONE PENNY.
The obverse has Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of the Queen with the inscription ELIZABETH II D G REG F D and the date. Check Your Change notes that the ring of rim beads on earlier pennies was dropped with the redesign. The edge is plain, and the coin is mild steel coated with copper, so it is attracted to a magnet.
Collecting notes
No recognised varieties or mint errors are documented for this coin.
With every date struck in the hundreds of millions, none is hard to find, and all eight still turn up in change. The Royal Mint states that the 1p is legal tender for amounts up to 20 pence.
Two years need a second look. A 2008 penny may have either the portcullis or the shield, and a 2015 penny may have either the Rank-Broadley portrait or the Jody Clark one catalogued as the fifth portrait Royal Shield 1p. Tony Clayton's reference also records precious-metal proofs of this design and a silver penny dated 2011 sold in a drawstring pouch as a Christmas gift.
Sources
The history, design, varieties and collecting notes on this page are drawn from these sources. Prices come from recorded sales, not from them.
- UK coin mintage figures (data file), The Royal Mint (read 9 Oct 2026)
- 1p Coin Designs and Specifications, The Royal Mint (read 9 Oct 2026)
- Proclamation determining the specifications and designs for a new series of one pound, fifty pence, twenty pence, ten pence, five pence, two pence and one penny coins (notice L-58612-455481), The Gazette (read 9 Oct 2026)
- Royal Mint Unveils New United Kingdom Coins (Royal Mint press release of 2 April 2008, as republished), CoinNews (read 9 Oct 2026)
- 1p Coins in Circulation, Check Your Change (read 9 Oct 2026)
- Decimal One Penny, by Tony Clayton, Coins of the UK (read 9 Oct 2026)
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