1992 20p Coin
The 1992 20p is a 20p coin struck for circulation with 31.2 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1992
- Circulation mintage
- 31,205,000
- Value band
- Face value
- Composition
- Cupronickel (84% copper, 16% nickel)
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 1992 20p worth?
31.2 million were made, so the 1992 20p 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 error such as the undated 2008 mule
For market prices, look at recent sold results for the same coin in the same condition, not asking prices.
Quick answers
- Is the 1992 20p rare?
- No. 31.2 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 1992 20p coins were made?
- 31,205,000 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 1992 20p made of?
- Cupronickel (84% copper, 16% nickel). It weighs 5.0 g and measures 21.4 mm, with a seven-sided (equilateral curve heptagon) shape.
- Is the 1992 20p still legal tender?
- Yes. Every 20p, including the undated 2008 coin, is legal tender in the UK.
The 1992 20p coin in context
1992 was a busy year for small change in Britain. The 10p was made smaller and the 1p and 2p switched from bronze to copper-plated steel. The 20p came through untouched, but it had its own quiet moment: the Royal Mint struck just 31,205,000 of them, the lowest total for any full year of William Gardner's rose design. Anyone who sorts 20ps by date soon notices how few 1992 coins turn up compared with the years around it.
There is no special story behind the figure. The country already had hundreds of millions of 20ps in circulation and demand dipped in the early 1990s; 1991 had also been low, at 35,901,250. Output recovered sharply in 1993 to 123,123,750. Across the whole life of the rose reverse from 1982 to 2008, only the short 2008 run of rose coins came in lower than 1992. That makes 1992 a coin many people search for when they first start sorting their 20ps. It's a reminder that low is relative, though: thirty million coins is a small run for the 20p but a vast number in absolute terms.
How to recognize it
The obverse carries Raphael Maklouf's portrait of the Queen wearing the George IV State Diadem, with his initials RDM below the neck and her Latin titles around the edge. The reverse is Gardner's crowned double rose with TWENTY PENCE, the figure 20 and the date 1992. Nothing about the coin itself changed that year, unlike its smaller neighbors. It is seven-sided with curved edges, 21.4 mm across, 5 g in weight and struck in cupronickel with a plain edge, so it looks exactly like a 1991 or 1993. Only the date tells it apart. Check it under good light, since the last digit can blur on worn coins.
The other side carries Raphael Maklouf's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, used from 1985 to 1997.
1992 20p by the numbers
Measured by how many were made, the 1992 20p ranks 4th lowest of 41 20p dates and varieties from 1982 to 2023. The next scarcer is the 2021 20p (19.6 million); the next more common is the 2020 20p (32.7 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1982 20p with 740.8 million, about 24 times as many. The scarcest is the 2023 20p with 525,000, 59 times fewer than this one.
Compared with the dates around it, the 1992 output was 1.2 times fewer than 1991 and 3.9 times fewer than 1993.
Over the 1990s the Mint produced 770.6 million 20p coins across 10 dates and varieties; the 1992 20p accounts for 4.0% of that.
What to check on your 1992 20p
- Confirm the date. Most dates are common, so the date and any variety decide whether a coin is worth setting aside.
- Count the sides: a genuine 20p has seven curved sides, measures 21.4 mm and weighs 5 g.
- 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.
The 1992 20p is a face value coin in circulated condition. Its low mintage makes it a nice date to own in uncirculated grade, where it can draw a small premium. The annual sets of that year are the easiest source. In change, pick out examples with crisp petals and an undamaged crown. Since the coin spent years in pockets alongside billions of others, a really clean circulated 1992 is harder to find than the mintage alone would suggest, so upgrade when you can.
The crowned rose with the Machin and Maklouf portraits (1982 to 1997)
The 20p was launched on 9 June 1982 to sit between the 10p and the 50p. Rising prices had left people paying for everyday things in fistfuls of 10p pieces and a coin worth two of them was the obvious fix. It also arrived in the year British coins stopped saying NEW, so it read TWENTY PENCE from the very first strike. William Gardner's reverse put a crowned double rose at the center, the Tudor emblem uniting Lancaster and York, with the figure 20 and the year on the same face.
Two portraits of the Queen cover these years. Arnold Machin's version, with the Queen in a tiara, was used for just three dates, 1982 to 1984. From 1985 Raphael Maklouf's portrait took over, showing her in the George IV State Diadem with RDM below the neck. Output swung wildly. The launch needed 740,815,000 coins, then the figure fell to 158,463,000 in 1983 and 65,350,965 in 1984. None at all were made for change in 1986. After that, big years such as 1987 and 1989 alternated with lean ones. 1991 and 1992 both came in below 36 million before a rebound to 123,123,750 in 1993.
Physically the coin never changed: seven curved sides of constant width, 21.4 mm, 5 g of cupronickel that is 84% copper and 16% nickel with a plain edge. The dates that reward a search are the sets-only 1986 plus the low runs of 1988, 1991 and 1992. A 1984 Machin coin next to a 1985 Maklouf one makes a neat pair showing the portrait change. On worn coins the rose petals and the arches of the crown go first, so judge condition there. Set coins are the easy way to own these dates unworn.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 20 pence |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 1992 |
| Circulation mintage | 31,205,000 |
| Composition | Cupronickel (84% copper, 16% nickel) |
| Weight | 5.0 g |
| Diameter | 21.4 mm |
| Shape | Seven-sided (equilateral curve heptagon) |
| Edge | Plain |
| Portrait | Maklouf |
Frequently asked questions
Is the 1992 20p rare?
It has the lowest mintage of any full year with the rose reverse, 31,205,000, but that is still a lot of coins. Circulated examples are face value. Sharp uncirculated coins, usually from sets, draw a small premium.
Did the 20p change in 1992 like the 10p?
No. The 10p was made smaller in 1992 and the 1p and 2p moved to copper-plated steel, but the 20p kept its size, weight and cupronickel alloy. Its specifications have not changed since 1982.
Mintage figures: Twenty pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.