FREE: Twenty Pence 1987 (British Coin)

The listing, Twenty Pence 1987 (British Coin) has ended.

United Kingdom

Value 20.0 pence sterling

Mass 5 g

Diameter 21.4 mm

Thickness 1.7 mm

Edge Plain

Composition 84% Copper, 16% Nickel

Years of minting 1982–present(excluding 1986)


Design Queen Elizabeth II

Designer Raphael Maklouf

Design date 1985 - 1997


Design A Crowned Tudor Rose

Designer William Gardner

Mintage 1987 137,450,000

The British decimal twenty pence (20p) coin – often pronounced twenty pees" – was issued on 9 June 1982 to fill the gap between the ten pence and fifty pence coins. It rapidly gained acceptance.

The coin is minted from a cupronickel alloy of 84% copper and 16% nickel , weighs 5.00 grams and has a diameter of 21.4 millimeters (0.84 in). Measuring at the highest points (the edge) it is 1.7 mm thick. Like the fifty pence piece, the coin is not circular, but is seven-sided to aid identification. The sides are not straight but are curved so that the center of curvature is the opposite apex of the coin – this is an equilateral curve (a curve of constant width) which allows the coin's diameter to be consistently measured in vending machines and slot machines.

Between 1985 and 1997 the head by Raphael Maklouf; and since 1998 the head by Ian Rank-Broadley. In all cases, the inscription is ELIZABETH II D.G.REG.F.D.

1982–2008
The original reverse of the coin, designed by William Gardner, is a crowned Tudor Rose, with the numeral "20" below the rose, the year, and TWENTY PENCE above the rose. Uniquely in modern British coinage, the inscriptions are mostly incuse; i.e. the lettering is punched into the coin rather than standing proud of it. The coin also differed from other British coinage at the time (bar the more recent £2 coin) in that the year of mintage is displayed on the reverse (the opposite side to the Queen's head).