2021 20p Coin

Quick answers

Is the 2021 20p rare?

No. 19.6 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.

How many 2021 20p coins were made?

19,600,000 were struck for circulation.

What is the 2021 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 2021 20p still legal tender?

Yes. Every 20p, including the undated 2008 coin, is legal tender in the UK.

How to recognize it

The obverse carries Jody Clark's portrait of the Queen wearing the State Diadem, with his initials JC and 2021 in the legend. The reverse shows Matthew Dent's section of the Royal Shield with TWENTY PENCE in words and no numeral. Size, weight and metal are unchanged: 21.4 mm across, 5 g and cupronickel, with the seven curved sides that have marked out the 20p since 1982. Nothing on the coin hints at its low mintage, so the date in the legend is the only clue you have. The shield design was by then thirteen years old and familiar to everyone who handled cash.

The other side carries Jody Clark's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, introduced in 2015 and the last of her reign.

2021 20p by the numbers

In mintage terms the 2021 20p ranks 3rd lowest of 41 20p dates and varieties from 1982 to 2023. The next scarcer is the 2008 Old Reverse 20p (11.9 million); the next more common is the 1992 20p (31.2 million).

For scale, the most common is the 1982 20p with 740.8 million, about 38 times as many. The scarcest is the 2023 20p with 525,000, 37 times fewer than this one.

Compared with the dates around it, the 2021 output was 1.7 times fewer than 2020 and 2.2 times fewer than 2022.

Over the 2020s the Mint produced 95.7 million 20p coins across 4 dates and varieties; the 2021 20p accounts for 20% of that.

What to check on your 2021 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.

A circulated 2021 20p is still a face value coin, but it is one of the lowest dates of the reign and a sensible one to keep. Bright coins with sharp shield detail and no edge knocks are the ones to hold onto. Uncirculated examples from the 2021 sets carry a small premium. Given how little cash now changes hands, the 2021 may stay harder to find in change than its mintage suggests, so don't spend a clean one. A loupe helps spot fine scratches before you decide which coin to keep.

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

Frequently asked questions