2008 Shield Reverse 10p Coin
The 2008 Shield Reverse 10p is a 10p coin struck for circulation with 71.4 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2008
- Circulation mintage
- 71,447,000
- 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 2008 Shield Reverse 10p worth?
71.4 million were made, so the 2008 Shield Reverse 10p is easy to find. A circulated one is worth face value; collectors pay a little more only for uncirculated coins and coins still in their original Royal Mint pack.
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 2008 Shield Reverse 10p rare?
- No. 71.4 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2008 Shield Reverse 10p coins were made?
- 71,447,000 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 2008 Shield Reverse 10p made of?
- Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel). It weighs 6.5 g and measures 24.5 mm.
- Is the 2008 Shield Reverse 10p still legal tender?
- Yes. The current-size 10p is legal tender, for payments of up to 5 pounds in 5p and 10p coins.
The 2008 10p coin in context
The shield 10p replaced the crowned lion in 2008 after forty years. Matthew Dent's design came out of an open competition run by the Royal Mint to refresh all the coins from 1p to 50p at once. His idea was to treat the coins as a set. The Royal Shield of Arms is split into six pieces and each coin carries one, so placing them together in the right order rebuilds the shield. The round pound of the time showed the full shield on a single coin, completing the scheme.
The Mint struck 71,447,000 shield 10ps dated 2008, alongside just 9,720,000 lion coins. Output then rose gently to 84,360,000 in 2009 and 96,600,500 in 2010. These first shield 10ps were still made of cupronickel, the metal the 10p had used since 1968, so they are not magnetic. That makes the 2008 to 2010 shield coins a small group of their own before steel arrived with the 2011 date. Plenty of people enjoyed the puzzle idea and set about collecting all six pieces from their change, which kept many bright 2008 coins out of circulation.
How to recognize it
The reverse shows a section of the Royal Shield with TEN PENCE in capital letters and no numeral. The obverse has Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of the Queen in a tiara, signed IRB, with ELIZABETH II D G REG F D and the date 2008. The coin is the small cupronickel 10p, 24.5 mm and 6.5 g with a milled edge. The shield design brought no change in size, weight or metal, so machines accepted it without any adjustment. It also dropped the numeral that every earlier 10p had carried, which took some getting used to. As with the lion coins before it, the reverse carries no date.
The other side carries Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, used from 1998 to 2015.
2008 Shield Reverse 10p by the numbers
By the numbers, the 2008 Shield Reverse 10p ranks 14th lowest of 40 10p dates and varieties from 1968 to 2023. The next scarcer is the 2021 10p (71.2 million); the next more common is the 2007 10p (72.7 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1992 10p with 1.41 billion, about 20 times as many. The scarcest is the 2023 10p with 600,000, 119 times fewer than this one.
Compared with the dates around it, the 2008 output was about the same as 2007 and 1.2 times fewer than 2009. Other 2008 10p coins: 2008 Old Reverse 10p (9.72 million).
Over the 2000s the Mint produced 959.3 million 10p coins across 11 dates and varieties; the 2008 Shield Reverse 10p accounts for 7.4% of that.
What to check on your 2008 Shield Reverse 10p
- Confirm the date and the variety (shield reverse). Most dates are common, so the date and any variety decide whether a coin is worth setting aside.
- Try a magnet: cupronickel 10p coins like this 2008 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.
A worn 2008 shield 10p is face value and easy to find. Its interest is as the first date of the design and the partner to the much scarcer lion coin of the same year; owning both tells the story of 2008 in two coins. Collectors building the complete shield usually want all six 2008 pieces in matching condition. Choose a bright coin with crisp lines in the shield, since those fine details are the first to wear. The Royal Mint also sold the six shield coins together in sets, which is the easy way to get a matched group.
Matthew Dent's shield ten pence (2008 to 2022)
Matthew Dent's designs reached the 10p in 2008, the first new reverse for the coin in forty years. His winning entry in the Royal Mint's open competition split the Royal Shield of Arms into six sections spread across the coins from 1p to 50p. Laid out in the right order they make the complete shield, which the round pound of the time carried whole. The 10p's piece reads TEN PENCE in words, with no numeral anywhere on the coin. The crowned lion that had been on every 10p since 1968 was retired.
Two physical changes followed. From the 2011 date the 10p switched from solid cupronickel to nickel-plated steel, a cheaper metal that keeps the same 24.5 mm and 6.5 g but is a touch thicker and sticks to a magnet. Then in 2015 Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait gave way to Jody Clark's, which shows the Queen in the George IV State Diadem with JC beneath the neck, so 2015 comes with both portraits. Output swung hard. The 2012 date was just 11,600,030, while 2013 and 2014 passed 320 million and 490 million.
Cash use fell away after 2016. Only 33,300,000 were struck in 2017. The 2018 and 2019 dates were made only for sets, because the circulating 10ps of those years were the A to Z coins with letters of the alphabet. Production returned in 2020 at lower levels than before. For collectors the dates to watch are 2012, 2017 and the two sets-only years. Every other shield 10p is common and face value in worn condition. Use a magnet to sort the cupronickel coins of 2008 to 2010 from the steel ones that followed.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 10 pence |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2008 |
| Circulation mintage | 71,447,000 |
| Composition | Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel) |
| Weight | 6.5 g |
| Diameter | 24.5 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Milled |
| Portrait | Rank-Broadley |
Other 2008 10p coins
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 Old Reverse 10p Coin | 9,720,000 | Face value |
Frequently asked questions
What does the shield on the 10p show?
It shows one section of the Royal Shield of Arms, the heraldic shield of the monarch. Each coin from 1p to 50p has a different section. Arrange all six correctly and the complete shield appears.
Is the 2008 shield 10p magnetic?
No. Shield 10ps dated 2008 to 2010 are cupronickel and will not stick to a magnet. The 10p changed to nickel-plated steel with the 2011 date, so any 10p dated 2011 or later is magnetic.
Mintage figures: Ten pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.