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

One row for each year the 5 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 5 New Pence - Elizabeth II

The 1968 5 New Pence - Elizabeth II is a circulating 5 pence coin issued from 1968 to 1981, struck in copper-nickel (75% Cu, 25% Ni). It weighs 5.65g and measures 23.59mm across. Reverse design: The Badge of Scotland, a thistle royally crowned, legend above, denomination below.

Mintage figures are recorded for 9 years between 1968 and 1980, 1,129,833,250 coins in all. 1977 is the scarcest date, with 24,308,000 struck. It is no longer legal tender (withdrawn 1990), so its value is to collectors only.

Common questions

History and design

The 5p and the 10p were the first decimal coins the public handled. The Royal Mint Museum records that they began to be issued in April 1968, nearly three years ahead of Decimal Day on 15 February 1971. The 5p matched the shilling exactly in size and value, so the two circulated together, and the Royal Mint notes that old shillings went on circulating alongside the 5p until 1990.

The Royal Mint's figures give 98,868,250 coins dated 1968, rising to 225,948,525 for 1970 as stocks were built up. After 1971 the coin was struck only when needed. The Mint lists circulating issues for just nine dates, the last being 1980, and they total 1,129,833,250.

Christopher Ironside designed the reverse as part of the set chosen for the decimal coinage and unveiled in February 1968. It shows a thistle royally crowned, the Badge of Scotland, with NEW PENCE above and the figure 5 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 thistle became FIVE PENCE.

Collecting notes

This is the large 5p, 23.59mm across, against 18mm for the coin in use now. The Royal Mint states that the smaller version was issued in June 1990 and that the larger one was demonetised in 1990. Wikipedia gives the withdrawal date as 31 December 1990. None of these dates can turn up in change.

By mintage, 1977 is the lowest circulating date at 24,308,000. In the Royal Mint's figures only one 5p of any type has a lower number, the 2025 coin. The commonest dates are 1970 and 1980, each above 220 million.

Read the reverse wording to place a coin. NEW PENCE belongs here, while FIVE PENCE on a large coin dated 1982 to 1984 belongs to the set issues of those years. Large coins with the later Maklouf portrait are a separate type.