10 Cents - Elizabeth II Decimal Pattern (1961)
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Year | 1961 |
| Denomination | 10 Cents |
| Face value | 10p |
| Mint | Royal Mint · Llantrisant |
| Circulation | Non-circulating |
| Composition | Copper-nickel |
| Weight | 5.730g |
| Diameter | 23.5mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Milled |
| Grade scale | UK (EF/UNC) |
Young laureate bust of Queen Elizabeth II facing right, legend around
+ ELIZABETH · II · DEI · GRATIA · REGINA
Central quartered shield overlaid on crowned garter with date below, denomination to left and right
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Daily limit reachedAbout the 1961 10 Cents - Elizabeth II Decimal Pattern
The 1961 10 Cents - Elizabeth II Decimal Pattern is a collector 10 cents coin, struck in copper-nickel. It weighs 5.73g and measures 23.5mm across. Reverse design: Central quartered shield overlaid on crowned garter with date below, denomination to left and right.
Common questions
How much is the 1961 10 Cents - Elizabeth II Decimal Pattern worth?
No verified sale of the 1961 10 Cents - Elizabeth II Decimal Pattern has been logged on MyCoinage yet.
Is the 1961 ten cents a real British coin?
It is a genuine Royal Mint piece, but a pattern rather than a coin of the realm. The Royal Mint Museum holds examples struck at Tower Hill. Britain never issued cents, because decimal currency in 1971 kept the pound and divided it into 100 new pence.
What does the 1961 ten cents weigh?
Three examples in the Royal Mint Museum weigh 5.63g, 5.72g and 5.73g. That is close to the cupro-nickel shilling, which the Royal Mint gives as 5.66g, and to the later 5p, which was made to the shilling's specification.
How many 1961 ten cents patterns exist?
No figure has been published in any source found. The Royal Mint Museum holds several in its collection under the file reference 2/214/1, but its catalogue does not say how many were struck or whether any were released.
How do I identify the 1961 10 Cents - Elizabeth II Decimal Pattern?
Check the weight 5.73g and diameter 23.5mm and the metal (copper-nickel) against the specification table on this page. The reverse design is described above.
History and design
The Royal Mint struck this ten cents pattern in 1961, as one value in a series of cents patterns now held by the Royal Mint Museum. The Museum's five, ten and twenty cents pieces share the Royal Mint file reference 2/214/1, and it also holds one cent and fifty cents patterns of the same date. All were made at the Mint's Tower Hill site.
None of them became currency. Wikipedia records that the Government appointed the Halsbury Committee on decimal currency in 1961, the year on these pieces, and that Britain eventually kept the pound with 100 new pence to it. The decimal coins of 1968 to 1971 were therefore denominated in new pence, and cents were never used.
The obverse carries a wreathed portrait of the Queen facing right with the legend + ELIZABETH · II · DEI · GRATIA · REGINA, as the Royal Mint Museum transcribes it. The Museum's records do not describe the reverse. The pieces are cupro-nickel with a milled edge and a 360 degree die axis.
The three examples checked weigh 5.63g, 5.72g and 5.73g. The Royal Mint gives the cupro-nickel shilling as 5.66g, so the pattern was struck close to the shilling's weight.
Collecting notes
As a pattern, the ten cents was never legal tender and cannot appear in circulation. The Royal Mint Museum's records are the most reliable description found, and they give no figure for how many were struck.
Its companions in cupro-nickel are the 1961 pattern five cents and the 1961 pattern twenty cents, each catalogued separately. Before buying a piece described as this pattern, compare it with the Museum's weights and legend, since only the obverse is described in its records.
Sources
The history, design, varieties and collecting notes on this page are drawn from these sources. Prices come from recorded sales, not from them.
- Elizabeth II pattern ten cents, 1961 (RMM 3036), The Royal Mint Museum, via Museum Data Service (read 10 Oct 2026)
- Elizabeth II pattern ten cents, 1961 (RMM 3037), The Royal Mint Museum, via Museum Data Service (read 10 Oct 2026)
- Elizabeth II pattern ten cents, 1961 (RMM 3041), The Royal Mint Museum, via Museum Data Service (read 10 Oct 2026)
- Decimal Day, Wikipedia (read 10 Oct 2026)
- A Year to Remember: coins minted in 1953, The Royal Mint (read 10 Oct 2026)