5 Pence - Elizabeth II 4th portrait Royal Shield magnetic (2011–2015)

One row for each year the 5 Pence - Elizabeth II 4th portrait – Royal Shield magnetic 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 2011 5 Pence - Elizabeth II – Royal Shield magnetic

The 2011 5 Pence - Elizabeth II – Royal Shield magnetic is a circulating 5 pence coin issued from 2011 to 2015 in the Royal Shield series, struck in nickel plated steel. It weighs 3.25g and measures 18mm across. Reverse design: Centre section of the Royal Shield of Arms, denomination central.

Mintage figures are recorded for 5 years between 2011 and 2015, 1,817,007,620 coins in all. 2011 is the scarcest date, with 50,400,000 struck.

Common questions

History and design

For most of its life the 5p was solid cupro-nickel, 75 per cent copper and 25 per cent nickel. A proclamation made on 21 July 2010 authorised new 5p and 10p coins in mild steel coated with nickel, at the same weight and diameter as before. The Royal Mint dates the change of composition to 2011 and says that all new 5p coins have been made of nickel-plated steel since January 2012.

The steel core makes these coins magnetic, which is how the type gets its name. In 2013 the Mint began a programme to recover the older cupro-nickel 5p and 10p coins from circulation, and it says some 330 million plated steel coins were issued in their place.

The Royal Mint's figures give 50,400,000 5p coins for 2011, 339,802,350 for 2012, 378,800,750 for 2013 and 885,004,520 for 2014. The 2014 figure is the highest for any 5p date except 1990, the year the small coin was introduced. A further 163,000,000 were struck with this portrait in 2015 before the Queen's effigy changed.

The reverse is Matthew Dent's, introduced in 2008. His designs for the 1p to 50p form the Shield of the Royal Arms when the coins are placed together, and the 5p sits at the centre: the proclamation describes it as a section of the Royal Arms showing elements of all four quarterings, with the words FIVE PENCE.

The obverse has the fourth portrait of the Queen, by Ian Rank-Broadley, used on the 5p from 1998 to 2015. The edge is milled. Nothing in the design changed when the metal did, so the steel coin cannot be told from the cupro-nickel one by its design.

Collecting notes

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

A magnet is the test. A plated steel 5p sticks; the cupro-nickel shield 5p does not. Press reports before the change said the steel coins would also be thicker, 1.9mm against 1.7mm, at the same weight.

The date to look at closely is 2011. The Mint publishes one figure for that year, the lowest of this group, and does not divide it by metal. When the Mint introduced the steel coins it also published the results of independent tests, which found no increased risk from handling them compared with cupro-nickel coins.

For 2015, check the portrait: coins with Jody Clark's effigy belong to the fifth portrait shield 5p. All of these coins remain legal tender and are common in change.