2017 10p Coin
The 2017 10p is a 10p coin struck for circulation with 33.3 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2017
- Circulation mintage
- 33,300,000
- Value band
- Face value
- 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 2017 10p worth?
33.3 million were made, so the 2017 10p is easy to find. A circulated one is worth face value; collectors pay a little more only for uncirculated coins and coins still in their original Royal Mint pack.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition
- A sets-only date
- A genuine mint error
For market prices, look at recent sold results for the same coin in the same condition, not asking prices.
Quick answers
- Is the 2017 10p rare?
- No. 33.3 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2017 10p coins were made?
- 33,300,000 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 2017 10p made of?
- Nickel-plated steel. It weighs 6.5 g and measures 24.5 mm.
- Is the 2017 10p still legal tender?
- Yes. The current-size 10p is legal tender, for payments of up to 5 pounds in 5p and 10p coins.
The 2017 10p coin in context
2017 was the year 10p output fell off a cliff. The Royal Mint had struck 135,380,000 in 2016, but only 33,300,000 regular 10ps carried the 2017 date. Fewer people were paying with coins and banks had plenty of 10ps in their vaults. It turned out to be the last regular 10p made for circulation for three years, because the 2018 and 2019 dates were struck only for sets. Anyone hunting through change for the newest shield 10p in 2019 would have found a 2017 at best.
There was another reason the regular 10p took a back seat. In 2018 the Royal Mint launched the A to Z series, twenty six 10ps each celebrating something British for a letter of the alphabet. Those were the 10ps sent out to circulation in 2018 and 2019. The 2017 shield 10p therefore marks the end of an unbroken run of regular circulation 10ps that had begun in 2000. When normal production returned with the 2020 date, the coin was entering a very different world in which cash was used far less.
How to recognize it
The 2017 10p carries Jody Clark's portrait of the Queen in the George IV State Diadem, signed JC, with the date in the legend. Matthew Dent's section of the Royal Shield is on the reverse with TEN PENCE in capitals. It is nickel-plated steel, 24.5 mm across and 6.5 g with a milled edge, so it will stick to a magnet. Apart from the date, nothing distinguishes it from a 2016 or 2020 coin. There is no letter design on it; those belong only to the separate A to Z issue. The shield piece and the lettering are exactly as they had been since 2008.
The other side carries Jody Clark's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, introduced in 2015 and the last of her reign.
2017 10p by the numbers
Measured by how many were made, the 2017 10p ranks 5th lowest of 40 10p dates and varieties from 1968 to 2023. The next scarcer is the 2012 10p (11.6 million); the next more common is the 2022 10p (38 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1992 10p with 1.41 billion, about 42 times as many. The scarcest is the 2023 10p with 600,000, 56 times fewer than this one.
Compared with the dates around it, the 2017 output was 4.1 times fewer than 2016 and 1.4 times fewer than 2020.
Over the 2010s the Mint produced 1.36 billion 10p coins across 11 dates and varieties; the 2017 10p accounts for 2.5% of that.
What to check on your 2017 10p
- Confirm the date. Most dates are common, so the date and any variety decide whether a coin is worth setting aside.
- Try a magnet: 2017 10p coins are nickel-plated steel and stick to it.
- Look at the surfaces under a light. Coins from sets have unbroken luster and color; change-worn coins are dull and scuffed.
- Never clean it. Rubbing or dipping strips the original color and leaves fine scratches.
With 33,300,000 struck, the 2017 is one of the lower shield 10ps, behind only 2012 among the dates issued for change. Worn coins are face value but deserve a place in any date run. Since the following two years were sets-only, a 2017 was also the newest regular 10p you could find in change until 2020 coins arrived. Pick a bright one with clean plating and no rust spots. Uncirculated coins from the year's sets are the easiest way to own the date at its best, though good examples can still be pulled from change.
Matthew Dent's shield ten pence (2008 to 2022)
Matthew Dent's designs reached the 10p in 2008, the first new reverse for the coin in forty years. His winning entry in the Royal Mint's open competition split the Royal Shield of Arms into six sections spread across the coins from 1p to 50p. Laid out in the right order they make the complete shield, which the round pound of the time carried whole. The 10p's piece reads TEN PENCE in words, with no numeral anywhere on the coin. The crowned lion that had been on every 10p since 1968 was retired.
Two physical changes followed. From the 2011 date the 10p switched from solid cupronickel to nickel-plated steel, a cheaper metal that keeps the same 24.5 mm and 6.5 g but is a touch thicker and sticks to a magnet. Then in 2015 Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait gave way to Jody Clark's, which shows the Queen in the George IV State Diadem with JC beneath the neck, so 2015 comes with both portraits. Output swung hard. The 2012 date was just 11,600,030, while 2013 and 2014 passed 320 million and 490 million.
Cash use fell away after 2016. Only 33,300,000 were struck in 2017. The 2018 and 2019 dates were made only for sets, because the circulating 10ps of those years were the A to Z coins with letters of the alphabet. Production returned in 2020 at lower levels than before. For collectors the dates to watch are 2012, 2017 and the two sets-only years. Every other shield 10p is common and face value in worn condition. Use a magnet to sort the cupronickel coins of 2008 to 2010 from the steel ones that followed.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 10 pence |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2017 |
| Circulation mintage | 33,300,000 |
| Composition | Nickel-plated steel |
| Weight | 6.5 g |
| Diameter | 24.5 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Milled |
| Portrait | Clark |
Frequently asked questions
Why were there no regular 10ps in circulation in 2018 and 2019?
The Royal Mint used those years for the A to Z 10ps, which went into circulation instead. Regular shield 10ps dated 2018 and 2019 were made only for collector sets. Normal circulation production resumed with the 2020 date.
Is the 2017 10p rare?
Not rare, but it is one of the scarcer shield dates. Only 33,300,000 were struck, about a quarter of the 2016 figure. Circulated ones are face value. It is a good coin to set aside for a date collection.
Mintage figures: Ten pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.