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

One row for each year the 5 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 5 Pence - Elizabeth II – set issue

The 1982 5 Pence - Elizabeth II – set issue is a collector 5 pence coin issued from 1982 to 1984, 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 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 It is no longer legal tender (withdrawn 1990), so its value is to collectors only.

Common questions

History and design

The 5p was one of the first two decimal coins, issued to the public from April 1968 at the same size and value as the shilling it replaced. Until 1981 its reverse read NEW PENCE. In 1982 the wording across the coinage changed to the plain denomination, and the 5p became FIVE PENCE.

No 5p coins were being issued for circulation at the time. In the Royal Mint's figures the last circulating 5p with the Machin portrait is dated 1980, at 220,566,000, and the next circulating 5p of any kind is dated 1987. The FIVE PENCE coin with the Machin portrait, dated 1982, 1983 and 1984, was therefore made 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 the Badge of Scotland, a thistle royally crowned, with FIVE PENCE above and the figure 5 below. Ironside designed it for the decimal coinage after winning a public competition, and it stayed on the 5p until 2008.

The obverse has Arnold Machin's portrait of the Queen, which the Royal Mint Museum records was used on decimal coins from 1968 to 1984. This is the large 5p in cupro-nickel: the Royal Mint gives the 1984 coin as 23.59mm across and 5.65g, against 18mm and 3.25g for the 5p in use today.

Collecting notes

These coins were sold in the Royal Mint's annual sets. The 1982 proof set, for example, held the 50p, the new 20p, 10p, 5p, 2p, 1p and halfpenny. An example that shows wear has been taken out of its set and spent, which was possible until the large 5p was withdrawn.

None of them is legal tender now. The Royal Mint Museum records that the small 5p was introduced in the summer of 1990 and that all earlier 5p coins were demonetised from the end of December 1990.

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. For the circulating coin that came before it, see the NEW PENCE type of 1968 to 1981, and for the Maklouf portrait that followed, the large 5p of 1985 to 1990.