2021 10p Coin
The 2021 10p is a 10p coin struck for circulation with 71.2 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2021
- Circulation mintage
- 71,200,000
- 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 2021 10p worth?
71.2 million were made, so the 2021 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 2021 10p rare?
- No. 71.2 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2021 10p coins were made?
- 71,200,000 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 2021 10p made of?
- Nickel-plated steel. It weighs 6.5 g and measures 24.5 mm.
- Is the 2021 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 2021 10p coin in context
Output rose to 71,200,000 in 2021, well above the 45,347,846 of 2020 and the highest 10p total since 2016. That runs against the 5p, which hit its low point that year. The coin carries Jody Clark's portrait and Matthew Dent's shield section in nickel-plated steel. A worn 2021 is face value and turns up easily in change.
How to recognize it
The other side carries Jody Clark's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, introduced in 2015 and the last of her reign.
The 2021 10p is round, 24.5 mm across and nickel-plated steel.
2021 10p by the numbers
By the numbers, the 2021 10p ranks 13th lowest of 40 10p dates and varieties from 1968 to 2023. The next scarcer is the 2005 10p (69.6 million); the next more common is the 2008 Shield Reverse 10p (71.4 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1992 10p with 1.41 billion, about 20 times as many. The scarcest is the 2023 10p with 600,000, 119 times fewer than this one.
Compared with the dates around it, the 2021 output was 1.6 times the 2020 figure and 1.9 times the 2022 figure.
Over the 2020s the Mint produced 155.1 million 10p coins across 4 dates and varieties; the 2021 10p accounts for 46% of that.
What to check on your 2021 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: 2021 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.
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 | 2021 |
| Circulation mintage | 71,200,000 |
| Composition | Nickel-plated steel |
| Weight | 6.5 g |
| Diameter | 24.5 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Milled |
| Portrait | Clark |
Mintage figures: Ten pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.