Exceptional: fewer than 1,000 minted.
3 Pence - Elizabeth II Maundy pre-decimal 1st issue (1953)
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Year | 1953 |
| Denomination | 3 Pence |
| Mintage | 1,078 |
| Mint | Royal Mint · Llantrisant |
| Series | Maundy Money |
| Circulation | Non-circulating |
| Composition | Silver (.925) (925/1000 fine) |
| Weight | 1.410g · 0.0419 t oz |
| Diameter | 16.0mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Plain |
| Orientation | Medal alignment ↑↑ |
| Obv. artist | Mary Gillick |
| Rev. artist | Jean Baptiste Merlen |
| Grade scale | UK (EF/UNC) |
Young laureate bust of Queen Elizabeth II right, legend around.
ELIZABETH II DEI GRA: BRITT: OMN: REGINA F: D:
Crowned denomination dividing date within oak wreath.
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Daily limit reachedAbout the 1953 3 Pence - Elizabeth II Maundy pre-decimal – 1st issue
The 1953 3 Pence - Elizabeth II Maundy pre-decimal – 1st issue is a collector 3 pence coin in the Maundy Money series, struck in 92.5% silver. It weighs 1.41g and measures 16mm across. Reverse design: Crowned denomination dividing date within oak wreath.
1,078 were struck.
Common questions
How much is the 1953 3 Pence - Elizabeth II Maundy pre-decimal – 1st issue worth?
No verified sale of the 1953 3 Pence - Elizabeth II Maundy pre-decimal – 1st issue has been logged on MyCoinage yet. Its silver content is worth about £1.67 at today's spot price, which puts a floor under its value.
How can I tell a 1953 Maundy threepence from the ordinary 1953 threepence?
The Maundy coin is a small round silver piece with a crowned figure 3 inside an oak wreath. The circulating threepence of 1953 is a large twelve-sided brass coin with a portcullis. Tony Clayton notes that any silver threepence from 1927 onwards with a crowned 3 is a Maundy coin.
How many 1953 Maundy threepences were struck?
CoinVarieties, citing the Spink, Coincraft and Krause catalogues, gives a recorded mintage of 1,078 for the 1953 Maundy threepence. The site stores the same figure. The coins went to the recipients and officials of the Royal Maundy service rather than into circulation.
What is the face value of a 1953 Maundy threepence?
Its legal face value is now 3p. Section 2 of the Coinage Act 1971 treats Maundy coins issued before 15 February 1971 as denominated in new pence, so the old threepence became three new pence, which more than doubled its face value in decimal terms.
Why does the 1953 Maundy threepence read BRITT OMN?
The proclamation of 25 November 1952 set the Maundy obverse legend as ELIZABETH II DEI GRA: BRITT: OMN: REGINA F: D:. The words BRITT OMN, of all the Britains, were dropped from the coinage in 1954, so 1953 is the only Maundy date of the reign that carries them.
How do I identify the 1953 3 Pence - Elizabeth II Maundy pre-decimal – 1st issue?
Check the weight 1.41g and diameter 16mm and the metal (92.5% silver) against the specification table on this page. The reverse design is described above.
History and design
The silver threepence had long since become two coins. Tony Clayton records that the currency version took a new design in 1927 and was last made for circulation in the UK in 1941, while the Maundy version kept the crowned 3. By 1953 the threepence in everyday use was the twelve-sided brass coin, and this small silver piece existed only for the Royal Maundy.
The Queen's first Maundy coins are dated 1953. Wikipedia records that in coronation years the service moved to St Paul's Cathedral while Westminster Abbey was being prepared, and a Stack's Bowers description quoted by CoinVarieties says the 1953 sets were handed out there by the Queen herself. CoinVarieties gives a recorded mintage of 1,078 for the threepence.
The proclamation of 25 November 1952 gave every Maundy coin the Queen's effigy with ELIZABETH II DEI GRA: BRITT: OMN: REGINA F: D: and, on the reverse, the figure of its value with the date across it, encircled by an oak wreath under the crown. The edge is plain. The portrait is Mary Gillick's, and the Royal Mint Museum notes that her work still appears on Maundy money.
The wreathed numeral design goes back to 1822 and is credited to Jean Baptiste Merlen, with the crown redrawn by Leonard Charles Wyon in 1888.
Collecting notes
Do not confuse this coin with the brass threepence of the same date. The Maundy piece is round, silver and 16mm across, with the crowned 3. Clayton's rule of thumb is that any silver threepence from 1927 onwards with a crowned 3 is a Maundy coin.
1953 is the only date of the reign with BRITT: OMN:, and Clayton notes that because the legend was the only obverse change, the 1953 issues are in very great demand. The later type is the 1954 to 1970 Maundy threepence.
The coin is sterling silver, as Maundy money has been since 1947, and remains legal tender. On decimalisation it became a three new pence piece, and the Coinage Act 1971 still treats it that way.
Sources
The history, design, varieties and collecting notes on this page are drawn from these sources. Prices come from recorded sales, not from them.
- Proclamation determining new designs for gold, silver, cupro-nickel, mixed metal and bronze coins, London Gazette issue 39703, The London Gazette (read 10 Oct 2026)
- Mary Gillick, Royal Mint Museum (read 10 Oct 2026)
- Maundy money (Royal Maundy), Wikipedia (read 10 Oct 2026)
- Coins of the UK: Three Pence, Tony Clayton (read 10 Oct 2026)
- Great Britain 1953 3 pence KM-887, CoinVarieties (read 10 Oct 2026)
- Coinage Act 1971, section 2, legislation.gov.uk (read 10 Oct 2026)
- Values of Coins of the UK: Three Pence, Tony Clayton (read 10 Oct 2026)
- Coins of the UK: Maundy Money, Tony Clayton (read 10 Oct 2026)
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