2018 10p Coin
The 2018 10p is a Royal Mint collector issue that was never released into circulation. Value band: small premium. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2018
- Issued as
- Collector packs and sets only
- 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 2018 10p worth?
No 2018 10p coin was issued for circulation: the Royal Mint struck that date only for its annual collector sets. A set coin that was spent can turn up in change, which is why 2018 is a date collectors look for. Expect a small premium, more for coins still in the original set.
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 2018 10p rare?
- It is scarcer than most 10p coins. It was never issued into circulation, so most examples are in collector packs.
- How many 2018 10p coins were made?
- None were made for circulation. The Mint sold this design only in packs and sets.
- What is the 2018 10p made of?
- Nickel-plated steel. It weighs 6.5 g and measures 24.5 mm.
- Is the 2018 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 2018 10p coin in context
No regular 10ps dated 2018 were issued for circulation. The reason is easy to see in change from that year. Instead of the shield design, the Royal Mint sent out the A to Z 10ps, a series of twenty six coins each showing something British for a letter of the alphabet. People went looking for those letters in their change. The plain shield coin was left to the collector sets. The two issues share a date but nothing else on the reverse.
The 2018 shield 10p therefore exists only in the Royal Mint's annual proof and uncirculated sets. The same was true in 2019. Before that, 2017 had already been a small year at 33,300,000. When regular production returned in 2020 the figure was 45,347,846, still a fraction of what the 10p had needed a decade earlier. Taken together, these years show how much the need for new coins had fallen as card and phone payments spread and fewer coins came back to the banks. The shield 10p never again reached the output of its busiest years.
How to recognize it
A 2018 10p in a set looks like any other coin of the period. Jody Clark's portrait of the Queen in the George IV State Diadem, signed JC, is on the obverse with the date. The reverse has Dent's shield section and TEN PENCE in capitals. It is nickel-plated steel, 24.5 mm and 6.5 g with a milled edge. Like all the steel 10ps it will cling to a magnet. There is no letter design and no special mark. Being in a set changes nothing about the coin itself. The A to Z coins of the same year are a separate issue with their own designs.
The other side carries Jody Clark's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, introduced in 2015 and the last of her reign.
2018 10p by the numbers
No 2018 10p coins were struck for circulation, so none were paid out by banks. For comparison, nearby circulation dates were 2015 Rank-Broadley Portrait 10p (119 million), 2015 Clark Portrait 10p (91.9 million), 2016 10p (135.4 million), 2017 10p (33.3 million), 2020 10p (45.3 million) and 2021 10p (71.2 million).
What to check on your 2018 10p
- Confirm the date. 2018 10p coins came only from collector sets, so a genuine one is often in very good condition.
- Try a magnet: 2018 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.
Sets-only dates are the ones that reward checking your change, because any loose example was taken from a set and spent. A 2018 shield 10p turning up in a handful of coins is a real find and brings a premium from collectors. Most people who want the date buy the year's uncirculated set instead. Make sure you are not looking at an A to Z coin by mistake: the regular 2018 10p always shows the shield. Keep any loose one away from damp so the plating stays bright.
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 | 2018 |
| Circulation mintage | None (collector issue) |
| Composition | Nickel-plated steel |
| Weight | 6.5 g |
| Diameter | 24.5 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Milled |
| Portrait | Clark |
Frequently asked questions
Is a 2018 10p with the shield rare?
In change, yes. None were issued for circulation, so a loose shield 10p dated 2018 must have come from a collector set. The A to Z 10ps of the same year are a different issue and much easier to find in change.
Does the 2018 shield 10p have a letter on it?
No. The letter designs belong only to the A to Z series. The regular 2018 10p has Matthew Dent's section of the Royal Shield with TEN PENCE, exactly like the coins of 2017 and 2020.
Mintage figures: Ten pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.