2008 Old Reverse 20p Coin
The 2008 Old Reverse 20p is a 20p coin struck for circulation with 11.9 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2008
- Circulation mintage
- 11,900,000
- 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 2008 Old Reverse 20p worth?
11.9 million were made, so the 2008 Old Reverse 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 2008 Old Reverse 20p rare?
- No. 11.9 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2008 Old Reverse 20p coins were made?
- 11,900,000 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 2008 Old Reverse 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 2008 Old Reverse 20p still legal tender?
- Yes. Every 20p, including the undated 2008 coin, is legal tender in the UK.
The 2008 20p coin in context
2008 was a changeover year. The Royal Mint was about to replace every reverse from 1p to 50p with Matthew Dent's Royal Shield designs, but the presses didn't stop while the new dies were readied. Early in the year they kept striking 20ps with William Gardner's crowned rose, the design used since 1982. Only 11,900,000 rose 20ps were made with the 2008 date before the switch, compared with 117,075,000 dated 2007.
That makes the 2008 rose coin the lowest circulation mintage 20p of the Queen's reign and the closing chapter of a design that had run for twenty-seven dates. The shield coins dated 2008 came out in far greater numbers, 115,022,000 of them, so if you find a 2008 20p in change the odds strongly favor the shield. The same year produced the undated 20p mule, a shield coin struck with the old obverse. It is a different coin from this one. The rose 2008 always shows its date, because on the old design the date was part of the reverse. The Royal Mint estimated between 50,000 and 200,000 mules escaped, against nearly twelve million rose coins.
How to recognize it
The obverse is Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of the Queen in her tiara with the Latin titles around it and no date. The reverse is Gardner's crowned double rose with TWENTY PENCE, the figure 20 and the date 2008. That reverse date is what separates this coin from the undated mule, which pairs the same dateless obverse with the new shield. The specifications are the usual ones: seven curved sides, 21.4 mm, 5 g, cupronickel and a plain edge. Because both sides look like any earlier rose 20p, the date is the only thing that marks it out. A magnifier helps on worn coins, where the small date digits can be hard to read.
The other side carries Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, used from 1998 to 2015.
2008 Old Reverse 20p by the numbers
By the numbers, the 2008 Old Reverse 20p ranks 2nd lowest of 41 20p dates and varieties from 1982 to 2023. The next scarcer is the 2023 20p (525,000); the next more common is the 2021 20p (19.6 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1982 20p with 740.8 million, about 62 times as many. The scarcest is the 2023 20p with 525,000, 23 times fewer than this one.
Compared with the dates around it, the 2008 output was 9.8 times fewer than 2007 and 10 times fewer than 2009. Other 2008 20p coins: 2008 Shield Reverse 20p (115 million).
Over the 2000s the Mint produced 1.26 billion 20p coins across 11 dates and varieties; the 2008 Old Reverse 20p accounts for 0.9% of that.
What to check on your 2008 Old Reverse 20p
- Confirm the date and the variety (old reverse). Most dates are common, so the date and any variety decide whether a coin is worth setting aside.
- Check both sides for a date. The famous 2008 mule has the new shield reverse with the old portrait side, so neither side shows a year.
- 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 11,900,000 made, the 2008 rose 20p is the scarcest circulating rose date and a coin many people hope to find. It still turns up in change. Worn examples are close to face value, while uncirculated ones draw a small premium. It completes the rose series and sits neatly beside the first shield coin of the same year. Check the date on the rose side and don't confuse it with the undated shield mule, which is far scarcer and carries a collector premium.
The crowned rose with the Rank-Broadley portrait (1998 to 2008)
Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait reached the 20p in 1998, the fourth likeness of the Queen on British coins. It shows her as a woman in her seventies, wearing the tiara often called the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara, with IRB under the truncation. The rose side was left alone. Gardner's crowned double rose still carried TWENTY PENCE, the numeral 20 and the year, so the portrait side had no date throughout this period. That small quirk of layout would matter a great deal when the design finally changed in 2008.
Demand for 20ps grew steadily as the new century began. The first two Rank-Broadley years were fairly modest, 76,965,000 in 1998 and 73,478,750 in 1999. Then output climbed past 136 million in 2000 and 148 million in 2001. The Golden Jubilee year of 2002 dipped to 93,360,000 with no special design, before 2003 set the high point of the decade at 153,383,750. From 2004 to 2007 the Royal Mint struck a steady 114 to 125 million each year. Nearly all of these coins are still turning up in change today.
The period ends with the scarcest circulating rose coin of all. Early in 2008, before Matthew Dent's shield designs replaced every reverse from 1p to 50p, the Mint struck 11,900,000 rose 20ps with the 2008 date. That is the one date from this run worth hunting for. Don't confuse it with the undated 2008 mule: the rose coin always shows its year on the reverse, while the mule is a shield coin with no date on either side. For the rest of the decade, collect for condition. A 1998 makes a good first-year piece and bright coins from sets show the portrait at its best.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 20 pence |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2008 |
| Circulation mintage | 11,900,000 |
| Composition | Cupronickel (84% copper, 16% nickel) |
| Weight | 5.0 g |
| Diameter | 21.4 mm |
| Shape | Seven-sided (equilateral curve heptagon) |
| Edge | Plain |
| Portrait | Rank-Broadley |
Other 2008 20p coins
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 Shield Reverse 20p Coin | 115,022,000 | Face value |
Frequently asked questions
How can you tell the 2008 rose 20p from the shield 20p?
Look at the reverse. The rose coin shows a crowned Tudor rose with the figure 20 and the date 2008. The shield coin shows part of the Royal Shield and has its date on the Queen's side.
Is the 2008 rose 20p the undated one?
No. The undated mule pairs the new shield reverse with the old dateless obverse. The rose coin always has the date on its reverse, so it can't be undated, though it is still a scarce date in its own right.
Mintage figures: Twenty pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.