World Wide Web 10p (Letter W)
The World Wide Web 10p (Letter W) is a circulating A to Z 10p with 283,000 made. Value band: small premium. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2018
- Circulation mintage
- 283,000
- Value band
- Small premium
- Composition
- Nickel-plated steel
Original illustration of the coin's shape and metal. Tap to flip. Not a picture of the actual design.
Face value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is a World Wide Web 10p (Letter W) worth?
The A to Z 10p coins were made in small runs for circulation (220,000 dated 2018 and 63,000 dated 2019 for this letter). They were made to be collected. A circulated World Wide Web 10p brings a small premium to collectors filling a set, more for the scarcer 2019 date and more again in uncirculated condition.
What would make yours worth more:
- The scarcer 2019 date
- Uncirculated condition
- An original collector card or pack
For market prices, look at recent sold results for the same coin in the same condition, not asking prices.
Quick answers
- Is the World Wide Web 10p (Letter W) rare?
- It is scarcer than most A to Z 10p coins. Collectors pay a small premium for good examples.
- How many World Wide Web 10p (Letter W) coins were made?
- 283,000 were struck for circulation.
- What is the World Wide Web 10p (Letter W) made of?
- Nickel-plated steel. It weighs 6.5 g and measures 24.5 mm.
- Is the World Wide Web 10p (Letter W) still legal tender?
- Yes. Every A to Z 10p is legal tender in the UK at face value.
Why the World Wide Web 10p (Letter W) was made
In 1989 the British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee, then working at CERN in Switzerland, wrote a proposal for a system to share information between computers using links. By 1991 the first website was online, explaining what the World Wide Web was and how to use it. Berners-Lee's work brought together web pages, links and the addresses we now type into browsers every day. In 1993 CERN made the technology freely available to anyone. That decision allowed the web to spread rapidly around the world.
Berners-Lee was knighted for his work and appeared at the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games, where the message "This is for everyone" lit up the stadium. The web changed how people shop, learn, work and keep in touch. It is now hard to imagine life without it. The Royal Mint chose the World Wide Web for W in its 2018 A to Z 10p series, celebrating a British invention that reshaped the modern world. The W coin stands out for another reason too. Its 2019 mintage is tied for the lowest in the whole series, which makes it one of the prizes of the hunt.
How to recognize it
The W coin features the letter W in a design celebrating the World Wide Web, the most modern subject in the alphabet. It shares the standard 10p specification: nickel-plated steel, 24.5 mm diameter, 6.5 g, with a milled edge. The obverse shows Jody Clark's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II and the date. Check that date carefully. W coins dated 2019 had one of the smallest mintages in the series, so a 2019 W is a far better find than a 2018 one even though the reverse is exactly the same. Store any 2019 coin you find separately so it does not get spent by mistake.
The other side carries Jody Clark's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, introduced in 2015 and the last of her reign.
World Wide Web 10p (Letter W) by the numbers
By the numbers, the World Wide Web 10p (Letter W) is the lowest of 26 circulating A to Z 10p coins with a published mintage. The next more common is the Yeoman Warder 10p (Letter Y) (283,000).
It was the only circulating commemorative A to Z 10p dated 2018.
Of the 283,000 World Wide Web 10p coins, 220,000 are dated 2018 and 63,000 are dated 2019. About 3.5 coins were dated 2018 for every one dated 2019, which makes 2019 the date to look for. This letter is also one of the five whose 2019 run was cut below 84,000.
What to check on your World Wide Web 10p (Letter W)
- Confirm the letter and picture: W for World Wide Web, with the date 2018 or 2019.
- Check the date. The 2019 coins had much smaller runs, so the same letter is scarcer with a 2019 date.
- Look at the surfaces under a light: coins from collector packs have unbroken luster, while change-worn coins show scuffs on the letter and design.
- Keep sets in order in a holder rather than loose; scratches on the large flat letter are easy to see.
The World Wide Web 10p had a 2018 mintage of 220,000 but only 63,000 for 2019. That ties W with Y and Z for the lowest 2019 figure in the series. Collectors know this, so 2019 W coins rarely stay in circulation long. Finding one in change is a real stroke of luck. A well kept 2019 W can attract a collector premium. A worn 2018 coin is still worth keeping to fill the W space on your collector map.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 10 pence |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2018 |
| Circulation mintage | 283,000 |
| Composition | Nickel-plated steel |
| Weight | 6.5 g |
| Diameter | 24.5 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Milled |
| Portrait | Clark |
Other 2018 A to Z 10p coins
Frequently asked questions
Is the 2019 World Wide Web 10p rare?
It is one of the scarcest coins in the series. Only 63,000 were made dated 2019, compared with 84,000 for most letters. Only Y and Z share that low figure, so it is one of the hardest A to Z coins to find.
Who invented the World Wide Web?
The British scientist Tim Berners-Lee proposed the World Wide Web in 1989 while working at CERN. The first website went online in 1991. The technology was made freely available in 1993.
Mintage figures: Ten pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.