2015 Clark Portrait 10p Coin
The 2015 Clark Portrait 10p is a 10p coin struck for circulation with 91.9 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2015
- Circulation mintage
- 91,900,000
- Value band
- Face value
- Composition
- Nickel-plated steel
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 2015 Clark Portrait 10p worth?
91.9 million were made, so the 2015 Clark Portrait 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 2015 Clark Portrait 10p rare?
- No. 91.9 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2015 Clark Portrait 10p coins were made?
- 91,900,000 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 2015 Clark Portrait 10p made of?
- Nickel-plated steel. It weighs 6.5 g and measures 24.5 mm.
- Is the 2015 Clark Portrait 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 2015 10p coin in context
Jody Clark's portrait reached the 10p in 2015, the fifth and final likeness of Queen Elizabeth II used on British coins during her reign. Clark worked as an engraver at the Royal Mint and his design was chosen to replace Ian Rank-Broadley's, which had been in use since 1998. The change happened during the year, so 2015 10ps were struck with both portraits. For the next seven years every 10p made for change carried Clark's version, right up to the end of the Queen's reign in 2022.
Here the 10p does something unusual. The Mint struck 119,000,000 Rank-Broadley 10ps and only 91,900,000 with Clark's portrait, so the new design is actually the less common of the 2015 pair. With most coins the first year of a new portrait is the bigger run. Output rose to 135,380,000 in 2016, the last big 10p year, before cash use fell sharply and the Mint cut production right back in 2017. From then on no Clark 10p came anywhere near the 2016 figure, which makes 2015 and 2016 the high point of the portrait.
How to recognize it
Clark shows the Queen in the George IV State Diadem, the diamond and pearl circlet she wore to the State Opening of Parliament, with JC beneath the neck. The legend reads ELIZABETH II D G REG F D with the date 2015. The reverse is unchanged, Matthew Dent's section of the Royal Shield with TEN PENCE. The coin is nickel-plated steel, 24.5 mm and 6.5 g with a milled edge. Being steel, it is magnetic, unlike the cupronickel 10ps dated before 2011. Check the small initials to tell the two 2015 coins apart: JC for Clark and IRB for Rank-Broadley.
The other side carries Jody Clark's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, introduced in 2015 and the last of her reign.
2015 Clark Portrait 10p by the numbers
By the numbers, the 2015 Clark Portrait 10p ranks 20th lowest of 40 10p dates and varieties from 1968 to 2023. The next scarcer is the 1980 10p (88.7 million); the next more common is the 1974 10p (92.7 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1992 10p with 1.41 billion, about 15 times as many. The scarcest is the 2023 10p with 600,000, 153 times fewer than this one.
Compared with the dates around it, the 2015 output was 5.3 times fewer than 2014 and 1.5 times fewer than 2016. Other 2015 10p coins: 2015 Rank-Broadley Portrait 10p (119 million).
Over the 2010s the Mint produced 1.36 billion 10p coins across 11 dates and varieties; the 2015 Clark Portrait 10p accounts for 6.8% of that.
What to check on your 2015 Clark Portrait 10p
- Confirm the date and the variety (clark portrait). Most dates are common, so the date and any variety decide whether a coin is worth setting aside.
- Try a magnet: 2015 10p coins are nickel-plated steel and stick to it.
- 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.
Neither 2015 10p is rare and worn examples are face value. The Clark coin is the first year of the final portrait of Elizabeth II, which makes it popular with people building a run of portraits. It also had the smaller run of the two. Keep one of each. Both are easy to find in good condition in change, so wait for a sharp coin with bright plating rather than settling for a scuffed one. The Clark coin also opens the run of dates that leads to the sets-only years and the scarcer pandemic coins.
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 | 2015 |
| Circulation mintage | 91,900,000 |
| Composition | Nickel-plated steel |
| Weight | 6.5 g |
| Diameter | 24.5 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Milled |
| Portrait | Clark |
Other 2015 10p coins
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 Rank-Broadley Portrait 10p Coin | 119,000,000 | Face value |
Frequently asked questions
Which 2015 10p is less common?
The Jody Clark version. The Royal Mint struck 91,900,000 with Clark's portrait against 119,000,000 with Ian Rank-Broadley's. Both are common in absolute terms, but the Clark coin is the smaller of the two runs.
What do the letters JC on a 10p mean?
They are the initials of Jody Clark, the Royal Mint engraver who designed the portrait of the Queen used from 2015. Earlier coins carry IRB for Ian Rank-Broadley or RDM for Raphael Maklouf.
Mintage figures: Ten pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.