Rare 20p Coins

• RARE 20p Coin Isle of Man Castle Rushen Clock Twenty Pence Piece 2015. RARE 1982 Twenty Pence 20 P COIN The 1st Year MINTAGE.
• Below shows the mintage figures for the calendar year of 2019, providing the only official guide to the rarest coins in circulation. In 2019 over 500 million coins were released into circulation, including three new 50 pence designs celebrating Arthur Conon Doyle’s iconic Sherlock Holmes, and Paddington the Bear at St Paul’s Cathedral and the Tower of London.

Bronze 20p coin A rare coin found in circulation has been confirmed to be a very extraordinary error coin (Image: Change Checker/288 Group Ltd) Dubbed one of the rarest coins to date, the bronze. The 20p was first issued in 1982 and has proved a popular denomination, being struck in large numbers ever since. Five different obverses and two reverses have been used to date. In 2008 an error (undated) coin known as a ‘mule’ was made using mis-matching obverse and reverse dies. Specifications are shown at the bottom of this page.

In 2009, the Royal Mint made a BIG mistake on some 20 pence coins making them worth at least £50 each!

If your purse is bulging with all of that annoying loose change, now might be the time to look at it all a little bit closer because who knows, you could be quids in.

Back in 2009, the Royal Mint made a mistake and accidentally issued up to 200,000 20 pence coins without a year stamp. This makes them worth at least £50 EACH!

Read more: Who Do YOU Think Should Be The Face Of The Next £10 Note?

Have you got one of these hiding in your purse? Picture PA

The rare coins are worth so much because they are the first coins without a date stamp to enter circulation in over 300 years.

The mistake happened when the reverse side of all coins from the 1p to £1 were redesigned in 2008.

The coins were designed by Matthew Dent to feature a different part of the Royal Arms Shield so that when they are put together they complete the picture and the full shield is revealed.

The old coin had the date on the back. Picture iStock

Previously, the 20 pence coins had the dates printed on the reverse side, however the date moved to the front with the new design. Although it would seem that someone forgot to actually move it!

A undated 20p in mint condition could fetch up to £100 from a collector so you'd better get checking!

Ten years ago, in November 2008, the Royal Mint issued an undated 20p coin. Instead of featuring the date that they were minted, as all coins are meant to, a mix up meant that the year of issue did not feature. This was the first time an undated coin entered circulation in more than 300 years; the last occasion being in 1672 during the reign of Charles II.

Rare 20p Coins 2006

The problem arose when an old heads design was used with a new tails design. The date was not present on either side of these designs. The date was meant to move from the reverse (tails) side to the obverse (heads) side, but some coins were produced using the tooling for the obverse of an old design and the reverse of the new design. The date was missing from as many as 200,000 coins before the problem was noticed.

Here are ten things you may not know about the 20p coin, in commemoration of the ten-year anniversary.

Little coin, big history

1) The 20p coin was introduced on June 9, 1982. At the end of the 1970s, there was a view that the decimal currency was too heavy. The introduction of a 20p coin substantially reduced the weight of coins in circulation by decreasing the number of 10p coins in use.

2) The coin was introduced more than ten years after the UK and Ireland changed to a decimal system of currency, which was on February 15, 1971. Before decimalisation, the currency was based on pounds (240 pence), shillings (12 pence) and pence, so 20 shillings made up a pound. The move to decimal currency ensured that all the currency used base 10, rather than the previous system, which used both base 12 and base 20.

3) In 1982, at the same time the 20p was introduced, the word “new” in “new penny” or “new pence” was removed from coins and replaced by the number of pence. From its introduction, the 20p coin only ever said “twenty pence”.

4) In 2008-09, 136m 20p coins were minted, worth £27.2m pounds. In March 2016, the Royal Mint reported that there were more than three billion 20p coins in circulation, which are are worth more than £600m.

5) The undated 20p is legal tender and should you find one it has a face value of 20p. Of course, they are sought by collectors and some stories have said they were worth thousands of pounds, although a cursory search on eBay suggests you’re more likely to get around £50 for one.

6) A coin which has the incorrect combination of obverse (heads) and reverse (tails) is called a “mule”. A mule could be made up of two obverse sides, or an incorrect combination of obverse and reverse, which is the case with the 2008 undated 20p coin.

7) The shape of a 20p coin is an equilateral curve heptagon. This means it has seven edges, which are all the same length. However, the edges are not straight. As the name of the shape suggests, the edges are curved. The 50p is also an equilateral curve heptagon.

8) All circular coins have the same width (diameter) no matter how you measure it. It might seem strange, but an equilateral curve heptagon also shares this property. No matter how you try and measure across its surface, you will find that the measurement is the same. This is important for coins as it makes life a lot easier for vending machine manufacturers as you know what the width of the coin should be, no matter its orientation. But from a user’s point of view, a 20p will feel different to other coins so is easy to differentiate, especially for those with visual impairments.

Rare 20p Coins List

9) The 20p coin is legal tender up to £10 (which is 50 20p coins). You cannot legally pay for anything with more than this many 20p coins.

Rare 20p Coins

10) Since its introduction in 1982, the 20p coin has featured four different portraits of the Queen. They were designed by Arnold Machin (1982-1984), Raphael Maklouf (1985-1997), Ian Rank-Broadley FRBS (1998-2015) and Jody Clark (2015 to date).