10 Pence - Elizabeth II 2nd portrait set issue (1982–1984)

One row for each year the 10 Pence - Elizabeth II 2nd portrait – set issue 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. 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 1982 10 Pence - Elizabeth II – set issue

The 1982 10 Pence - Elizabeth II – set issue is a collector 10 pence coin issued from 1982 to 1984, struck in copper-nickel (75% Cu, 25% Ni). It weighs 11.31g 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 3 years between 1982 and 1984, 1,000,920 coins in all. 1984 is the scarcest date, with 158,820 struck. It is no longer legal tender (withdrawn 1993), so its value is to collectors only.

Common questions

History and design

The 10p was issued to the public from April 1968, three years ahead of Decimal Day, at the same size and value as the florin. Its reverse read NEW PENCE until 1981 and TEN PENCE from 1982.

The change of wording coincided with a long gap in production. The Royal Mint's figures show only 3,487,000 circulating 10p coins dated 1981, the lowest of any large 10p date, and then nothing at all until the smaller coin of 1992. The 20p arrived in June 1982, and the Royal Mint's own account is that it was introduced to decrease the number of 10p coins in use.

The TEN PENCE coin with the Machin portrait, dated 1982, 1983 and 1984, was therefore struck only for the annual collector sets. Tony Clayton's reference lists all three dates as obtainable only from Mint and Proof sets.

Christopher Ironside's reverse shows a crowned lion, formally part of the crest of England, a lion passant guardant royally crowned. TEN PENCE is written above and the figure 10 below. The design was used on the 10p from 1968 to 2008.

The obverse carries Arnold Machin's portrait of the Queen, in its last three years of use. The coin is the large cupro-nickel 10p, 28.5mm across, against 24.5mm for the 10p issued from September 1992.

Collecting notes

These coins reached collectors through the Royal Mint's annual sets, in proof and uncirculated form. A worn example has been removed from a set and spent while the large 10p was still current.

None is legal tender today. The Royal Mint Museum records that the old-sized 10p pieces ceased to be legal tender at the end of June 1993, when the florins that had circulated beside them were also withdrawn.

The Royal Mint publishes no mintage for these dates, since its figures cover circulating issues. No recognised varieties or mint errors are documented for this coin. The circulating coin that preceded it is the NEW PENCE type of 1968 to 1981, and the same reverse continued with the Maklouf portrait as another set-only large 10p from 1985 to 1992.