5 Pence - Elizabeth II 4th portrait Crowned Thistle (1998–2008)

One row for each year the 5 Pence - Elizabeth II 4th portrait – Crowned Thistle 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 1998 5 Pence - Elizabeth II – Crowned Thistle

The 1998 5 Pence - Elizabeth II – Crowned Thistle is a circulating 5 pence coin issued from 1998 to 2008, struck in copper-nickel (75% Cu, 25% Ni). It weighs 3.25g and measures 18mm across. Reverse design: The Badge of Scotland, a thistle royally crowned, with legend above and denomination below.

Mintage figures are recorded for 11 years between 1998 and 2008, 2,857,115,000 coins in all. 2008 is the scarcest date, with 92,880,000 struck.

Common questions

History and design

The crowned thistle was one of the original decimal designs. The Royal Mint Museum records that Christopher Ironside's series for the ½p, 1p, 2p, 5p and 10p was unveiled in February 1968, and that the 5p and 10p began to be issued to the public in April that year, circulating beside the shilling and florin. The 5p was reduced to its present 18mm size in June 1990.

This entry covers the last version of that design: the small 5p with the fourth portrait of the Queen, struck from 1998 to 2008. The Royal Mint's figures show a circulating issue in every one of those 11 years, totalling 2,857,115,000 coins. The first date, 1998, has 217,376,000. The highest is 2000 at 388,512,000.

The lowest is 2008, at 92,880,000. That was the changeover year, when the Mint also struck 165,172,000 5p coins with Matthew Dent's new Royal Shield reverse.

The reverse shows the Badge of Scotland, a thistle royally crowned, with FIVE PENCE above and the figure 5 below. The Royal Mint credits the reverse to Christopher Ironside for the whole period 1968 to 2008. The wording had been NEW PENCE until 1982.

The obverse carries Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait, used on the 5p from 1998 to 2015. The Royal Mint says he was invited to compete for a new royal portrait in 1996 and that the effigy was released into circulation in early 1998. His initials IRB sit below the bust. The edge is milled and the coin is cupro-nickel, 75% copper and 25% nickel.

Collecting notes

No recognised varieties or mint errors are documented for this coin.

All 11 dates were made in the tens or hundreds of millions, so a date run is a matter of patience and condition. Supply from change is shrinking, though. The Royal Mint says that in 2013 it began a programme to recover old 5p and 10p coins from circulation and replace them with nickel-plated steel pieces, and every coin of this type is one of the older cupro-nickel issues.

A magnet separates the two metals: these coins are not attracted, the later plated steel ones are. For 2008, check the reverse, since the same date also exists as the Royal Shield 5p. Tony Clayton's reference lists precious-metal proofs of the thistle design in silver, gold and platinum, sold in collector sets and not issued for circulation.