2017 20p Coin
The 2017 20p 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
- 2017
- Issued as
- Collector packs and sets only
- Value band
- Small premium
- 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 2017 20p worth?
No 2017 20p 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 2017 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 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 2017 20p rare?
- It is scarcer than most 20p coins. It was never issued into circulation, so most examples are in collector packs.
- How many 2017 20p coins were made?
- None were made for circulation. The Mint sold this design only in packs and sets.
- What is the 2017 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 2017 20p still legal tender?
- Yes. Every 20p, including the undated 2008 coin, is legal tender in the UK.
The 2017 20p coin in context
For the second time in its history the 20p skipped a year in circulation. No 2017 20ps were struck for everyday use and the date was made only for the Royal Mint's annual collector sets. The country simply had plenty. The two years before had produced 131,250,000 Clark portrait coins dated 2015 and 212,625,000 dated 2016, the biggest year since the launch. Card payments were also taking a growing share of everyday spending, so fewer coins were coming out of banks.
2017 was a busy year at the Mint for other reasons too. The 12-sided pound entered circulation in March, replacing the round pound, which meant striking hundreds of millions of the new coins. The 20p pause carried on into 2018 as well, so there is a two-year gap in circulating 20ps between 2016 and 2019. That makes 2017 a date that's easy to overlook. Plenty of people assume any 20p from a recent year must be common, but a 2017 one only reached change if somebody broke open a set and spent the coins.
How to recognize it
The 2017 20p looks exactly like its neighbors. The obverse carries Jody Clark's portrait of the Queen in the George IV State Diadem, with JC below the neck and 2017 in the legend. The reverse is Matthew Dent's segment of the Royal Shield with TWENTY PENCE in words and no numeral. The coin is the standard seven-sided cupronickel piece, 21.4 mm across and 5 g with a plain edge. Coins from proof sets have mirror fields and frosted designs, while uncirculated set coins have a normal satin finish like a fresh coin from a bank bag. Neither finish was released into change by the Mint.
The other side carries Jody Clark's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, introduced in 2015 and the last of her reign.
2017 20p by the numbers
No 2017 20p coins were struck for circulation, so none were paid out by banks. For comparison, nearby circulation dates were 2014 20p (173.8 million), 2015 Rank-Broadley Portrait 20p (63.2 million), 2015 Clark Portrait 20p (131.3 million), 2016 20p (212.6 million), 2019 20p (125.1 million) and 2020 20p (32.7 million).
What to check on your 2017 20p
- Confirm the date. 2017 20p coins came only from collector sets, so a genuine one is often in very good condition.
- 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.
As a sets-only date, the 2017 20p is one of the coins that holds up a modern date run. Expect a small premium for a clean example and a little more for a complete original set. Because it looks so ordinary, it can hide in plain sight in a change jar, so check the date on every Clark portrait 20p you handle. Store a loose one in a holder to keep it from picking up new marks. A full set also proves where the coin came from.
Matthew Dent's Royal Shield twenty pence (2008 to 2022)
In 2008 every coin from 1p to 50p got a new reverse for the first time since decimalization. The Royal Mint had run an open competition and the winner was Matthew Dent, a young graphic designer whose idea was a jigsaw. He cut the Royal Shield into pieces and gave one to each coin, so the 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p and 50p laid out together rebuild the whole shield, while the round pound of the period showed it complete. The 20p carries its segment of the shield with TWENTY PENCE written in words. There is no numeral and no date on this side.
With the date gone from the reverse it had to move to the portrait side, which meant a new obverse die as well. That change caused the famous undated 20p of 2008: some coins were struck with the new shield reverse and the old obverse, so neither side shows a year. The coin itself stayed the same, seven-sided, 21.4 mm, 5 g and cupronickel. Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait ran until 2015, when Jody Clark's took over, so 2015 comes in two versions. Output swung widely: past 190 million in 2011, past 212 million in 2016, then nothing for change in 2017 or 2018.
For most shield 20ps the only question is condition, since they were made in huge numbers. A few things deserve a second look. First, turn every shield 20p over and make sure a date appears somewhere; if it doesn't, you have the undated mule. Second, the pandemic and the fall in cash use pushed output right down, with 32,725,000 in 2020 and only 19,600,000 in 2021. Third, 2017 and 2018 exist only in sets. Check the portrait on any 2015 coin, since the Rank-Broadley version is the smaller of the two.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 20 pence |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2017 |
| Circulation mintage | None (collector issue) |
| Composition | Cupronickel (84% copper, 16% nickel) |
| Weight | 5.0 g |
| Diameter | 21.4 mm |
| Shape | Seven-sided (equilateral curve heptagon) |
| Edge | Plain |
| Portrait | Clark |
Frequently asked questions
Were any 2017 20p coins made for circulation?
No. The Royal Mint struck 2017 20ps only for its collector sets, after very large runs in 2015 and 2016. Any 2017 coin found in change was taken out of a set and spent.
What should you do with a 2017 20p found in change?
Keep it. It is one of the harder modern 20ps to find and carries a small premium. It can still be spent at face value, but collectors building a full run of dates need one.
Mintage figures: Twenty pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.