United Kingdom: Coin Twenty Pence 2008 (Dent design) - detailed information
| Coin | Twenty Pence 2008 (Dent design) |
|---|---|
In August 2005 the Royal Mint launched a competition to find new reverse designs for all circulating coins apart from the £2 coin. The winner, announced in April 2008, was Matthew Dent, whose designs were gradually introduced into the circulating British coinage from mid-2008. The designs for the 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p and 50p coins depict sections of the Royal Shield that form the whole shield when placed together. The shield in its entirety is featured on the £1 coin. The 20p coin depicts the meeting point of the second and fourth quarter of the shield, showing the Lion Rampant of Scotland and the Lions Passants of England. The date no longer appears on the reverse of the coin, and has instead been added to the obverse, where the lettering has been adjusted so as to fit the date in. | |
| Mint | Royal Mint |
Obverse |
Crowned head of Queen Elizabeth II facing right (effigy known as the "Fourth portrait"). In tiny letters below head the artist's initials IRB (for Ian Rank-Broadley). Around, the legend and date ELIZABETH · II D · G · REG · F · D · 2008 (Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, Queen, Defender of the Faith). |
| Obverse Inscription | ELIZABETH · II D · G · REG · F · D · 2008 |
Reverse |
The reverse of the 20p coin depicts the meeting point of the second and fourth quarter of the Royal Shield, showing the Lion Rampant of Scotland and the Lions Passants of England. The denomination TWENTY PENCE is around right. |
| Reverse Inscription | TWENTY PENCE |
| Edge | Plain |
| Edge Inscription | None |
| Variety | In The Royal Shield of Arms mint sets | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Mintage | 100,000 (included in total) | ||
| Variety | Dateless 20 Pence (mule) | ||
| Mintage | 50,000 (included in total) | ||
| Details | An unusual accidental dateless version of the 20 pence was reported to be in circulation in June 2009, the first undated British coin to enter circulation in more than 300 years. This was the result of the production of a mule, i.e. a version of the coin with a non-standard combination of obverse and reverse face designs. The fault occurred as a result of the 2008 redesign of UK coinage, which moved the date on a 20 pence from the reverse to the obverse (Queen's head side), and a batch of coins were produced using the tooling for the obverse of the old design and the reverse of the new design. The Royal Mint estimated that between 50,000 and 200,000 entered circulation before the error was noticed. The Royal Mint stated these coins were still legal tender, although due to their rarity they are traded above face value by collectors. | ||
| Variety | Proof FDC, The Royal Shield of Arms set | ||
| Mintage | 20,000 (included in total) | ||
| Variety | Silver Proof FDC, The Royal Shield of Arms set | ||
| Mintage | 10,000 | ||
| Material | 0.925 Silver | ||
| Details | 5.00 g., 0.925 Silver 0.1487 oz. ASW, 21.4 mm. | ||
| Variety | Silver Proof Piedfort FDC, The Royal Shield of Arms set | ||
| Mintage | 3,000 | ||
| Material | 0.925 Silver | ||
| Details | Listed in Spink only, not in Krause. | ||
| Variety | Gold Proof FDC, The Royal Shield of Arms set | ||
| Mintage | 886 | ||
| Material | 0.9167 Gold | ||
| Details | 0.9167 Gold, 21.4 mm. | ||
| Variety | Platinum Proof FDC, The Royal Shield of Arms set | ||
| Mintage | 184 | ||
| Source | Edition | About | Link | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Mint | 2016 | Mint | link | |
| Royal Mint | 2016 | Mintage | link | Circulation mintage |
| Spink, Coins of England and the United Kingdom | Mintage | Proof and sets mintage | ||
| Spink, Coins of England and the United Kingdom | Varieties | Proofs, mint sets |
|
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Currency | Pound Sterling |
| Coin Type | Twenty Pence (Dent design) |
| Issued | 2008 |
| Monarch | Queen Elizabeth II |
| Effigy | Portrait by Ian Rank-Broadley (Fourth Portrait) |
| Face Value | 20 (x Penny) |
| Current | Yes |
| Mintage | 115,142,000 (115.1 million) |
| Rarity | C (Common) |
| Material | CuproNickel |
| Designer | Matthew Dent |
| Technology | Milled (machine-made) |
| Shape | Heptagon |
| Size (mm) | 21.4000 |
| Thickness (mm) | 1.7000 |
| Mass (g) | 5 |
| Source | Reference ID |
|---|---|
| Krause, Standard Catalog of World Coins | Great Britain KM# 1111, 1111a (Silver) |
| Spink, Coins of England and the United Kingdom | 4631, 4631A (No Date mule) |
| Krause, Standard Catalog of World Coins | Great Britain KM# 1111b (Gold), 1111c (Platinum) |
| Krause, Standard Catalog of World Coins | Great Britain KM# 1122 (No Date mule) |