1968 5p Coin
The 1968 5p is a 5p coin struck for circulation with 98.9 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1968
- Circulation mintage
- 98,868,250
- Value band
- Face value
- Composition
- Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% 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 1968 5p worth?
98.9 million were made, so the 1968 5p is common. It is the original large size, which is no longer legal tender, so a worn one has no spending value; collectors only want uncirculated examples and the scarcer dates.
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 1968 5p rare?
- No. 98.9 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 1968 5p coins were made?
- 98,868,250 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 1968 5p made of?
- Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel). It weighs 5.65 g and measures 23.59 mm.
- Is the 1968 5p still legal tender?
- No. The original large 5p stopped being legal tender in 1990, after the smaller coin arrived. Collectors still keep scarce dates.
The 1968 5p coin in context
Britain's move to decimal money started early and quietly. On 23 April 1968 the 5p and the 10p went into circulation, almost three years before Decimal Day on 15 February 1971. The government wanted people to handle the new coins well before they had to think in new pence. The 5p was built to make that painless. It matched the shilling exactly in size, weight and metal, so a shopkeeper could take it as a shilling in 1968 and as five new pence after 1971 without anything changing in what it would buy.
The Royal Mint struck 98,868,250 5ps dated 1968, a large run though not the largest of the early years. Output climbed to 120,270,000 in 1969 and then to 225,948,525 in 1970 as stocks were built up for the switchover. Because the 1968 coins stayed in use for more than twenty years, most survivors are well worn. Plenty were also put aside as souvenirs of the new money, which is why they still turn up in tins and drawers. Shillings were spent side by side with them the whole time, an unusual case of two coins from different systems doing exactly the same job.
How to recognize it
Christopher Ironside's reverse shows a thistle beneath a royal crown, the badge of Scotland, with NEW PENCE and a large 5. The obverse carries Arnold Machin's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II wearing a tiara, by the artist behind the famous Machin stamp portrait, with ELIZABETH II D G REG F D 1968 around it. The coin is cupronickel of 75% copper and 25% nickel, 23.59 mm across and 5.65 g in weight, with a milled edge. Put one next to a shilling of the 1960s and the two are a perfect match in size, which was exactly the plan. The date sits on the portrait side, as it does on every 5p.
The other side carries Arnold Machin's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, used on UK coins from 1968 to 1984.
1968 5p by the numbers
By the numbers, the 1968 5p ranks 13th lowest of 46 5p dates and varieties from 1968 to 2023. The next scarcer is the 1994 5p (93.6 million); the next more common is the 1989 5p (101.4 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1990 5p with 1.63 billion, about 17 times as many. The scarcest is the 1977 5p with 24.3 million, 4.1 times fewer than this one.
Compared with the dates around it, the 1968 output was 1.2 times fewer than 1969.
What to check on your 1968 5p
- Confirm the date. Most dates are common, so the date and any variety decide whether a coin is worth setting aside.
- Try a magnet: cupronickel 5p coins like this 1968 coin do not stick, while the steel coins of later years do.
- 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.
Since the large 5p stopped being legal tender at the end of 1990, a 1968 coin cannot be spent or paid into a bank. Its value is whatever collectors will pay, which for a worn coin is a small premium at most, because so many millions were saved as souvenirs of the coming change. The coins that stand out are uncirculated ones with full original luster, a crisp thistle and an unmarked crown. Those are scarcer than the mintage suggests. Avoid cleaned coins, which look bright but have lost the soft mint finish collectors want.
The large crowned thistle five pence (1968 to 1989)
The 5p was one of the first two decimal coins Britain ever saw. It went into circulation in April 1968 with the 10p, almost three years before Decimal Day on 15 February 1971. The trick that made this possible was size. The new coin matched the shilling exactly, 23.59 mm across and 5.65 g in weight, so it could be spent as a shilling while the old money was still in use and simply carry on afterwards as five new pence. Shillings stayed legal tender alongside it until the end of 1990.
Christopher Ironside designed the reverse: a thistle beneath a royal crown, the badge of Scotland, with a large figure 5. Until 1981 the wording reads NEW PENCE, a reminder that the system was new. From 1982 it reads FIVE PENCE instead. Arnold Machin's portrait of the Queen in a tiara is on the obverse until 1984, with the legend ELIZABETH II D G REG F D and the date. Raphael Maklouf's portrait, with the Queen in the George IV State Diadem, replaced it in 1985. The coin is cupronickel of 75% copper and 25% nickel with a milled edge.
Output was very uneven. Huge runs in 1970 and 1980 sit beside long gaps when no 5ps were made for change at all: 1972 to 1974, 1976 and every year from 1981 to 1986. Those dates exist only in the Royal Mint's annual sets. The lowest circulation figure is 1977, at 24,308,000. None will reach you in change today, because the large 5p stopped being legal tender at the end of 1990 after the smaller coin arrived. Old jars and drawers are where they hide now. Look for sharp thistle leaves and a clear crown, since those are the first details to wear away.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 5 pence |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 1968 |
| Circulation mintage | 98,868,250 |
| Composition | Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel) |
| Weight | 5.65 g |
| Diameter | 23.59 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Milled |
| Portrait | Machin |
Frequently asked questions
Can a 1968 5p still be spent?
No. The large 5p stopped being legal tender on 31 December 1990, six months after the smaller 18 mm coin arrived. A 1968 coin is now a collectible only, so its value depends on condition rather than the five pence shown on it.
Why does a 1968 5p look exactly like a shilling?
Because it was designed to. The 5p copied the shilling's size, weight and cupronickel alloy so both could circulate together through the changeover. A shilling was worth five new pence, so the two were interchangeable until both were withdrawn at the end of 1990.
Mintage figures: Five pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.