10 New Pence - Elizabeth II 2nd portrait (1968–1981)

One row for each year the 10 New Pence - Elizabeth II 2nd portrait 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.

About the 1968 10 New Pence - Elizabeth II

The 1968 10 New Pence - Elizabeth II is a circulating 10 pence coin issued from 1968 to 1981, struck in copper-nickel (75% Cu, 25% Ni). It weighs 11.3g and measures 28.5mm across. Reverse design: Part of the Crest of England, a lion passant guardant royally crowned, legend above, denomination below.

Mintage figures are recorded for 12 years between 1968 and 1981, 1,768,538,250 coins in all. 1981 is the scarcest date, with 3,487,000 struck. It is no longer legal tender (withdrawn 1993), so its value is to collectors only.

Common questions

History and design

The 10p was one of the first two decimal coins. The Royal Mint Museum records that the 5p and 10p began to be issued to the public in April 1968, almost three years before Decimal Day on 15 February 1971. Because the 10p matched the florin exactly in size and value, the two circulated side by side, and the Museum notes that this helped to prepare the public for the changeover.

The Royal Mint's figures give 336,143,250 coins dated 1968 and 314,008,000 dated 1969, the stockpile for the new currency. Output then varied with demand. The Mint lists no circulating 10p dated 1972 or 1978, and the last NEW PENCE date, 1981, has just 3,487,000. The twelve circulating dates total 1,768,538,250.

Christopher Ironside designed the reverse as part of the set chosen for the decimal coinage, unveiled in February 1968. It shows a crowned lion, described heraldically as part of the crest of England, a lion passant guardant royally crowned. NEW PENCE runs above and the figure 10 sits below.

The obverse carries Arnold Machin's portrait of the Queen, which the Royal Mint Museum says was prepared and approved with decimal coinage in mind. The coin is cupro-nickel with a milled edge. From 1982 the wording above the lion became TEN PENCE.

Collecting notes

This is the large 10p, 28.5mm across, against 24.5mm for the coin in use now. The smaller coin was issued on 30 September 1992 and the Royal Mint states that the larger version was demonetised in 1993. Wikipedia gives the withdrawal date as 30 June 1993. None of these dates can turn up in change.

By mintage, 1981 stands apart: 3,487,000 is the lowest figure for any date of the large 10p, and less than a sixteenth of the next lowest, 1977 at 59,323,000. The 1968 and 1969 coins were struck in the hundreds of millions.

Read the reverse wording to place a coin. NEW PENCE belongs to this type, while TEN PENCE on a large coin belongs to the 1982 to 1984 set issues. The Royal Mint's figures show no large 10p struck for circulation after 1981, so later large coins come from collector sets.