2018 20p Coin
The 2018 20p is a Royal Mint collector issue that was never released into circulation. Value band: small premium. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2018
- Issued as
- Collector packs and sets only
- Value band
- Small premium
- Composition
- Cupronickel (84% copper, 16% 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 2018 20p worth?
No 2018 20p coin was issued for circulation: the Royal Mint struck that date only for its annual collector sets. A set coin that was spent can turn up in change, which is why 2018 is a date collectors look for. Expect a small premium, more for coins still in the original set.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition
- A sets-only date
- A genuine error such as the undated 2008 mule
For market prices, look at recent sold results for the same coin in the same condition, not asking prices.
Quick answers
- Is the 2018 20p rare?
- It is scarcer than most 20p coins. It was never issued into circulation, so most examples are in collector packs.
- How many 2018 20p coins were made?
- None were made for circulation. The Mint sold this design only in packs and sets.
- What is the 2018 20p made of?
- Cupronickel (84% copper, 16% nickel). It weighs 5.0 g and measures 21.4 mm, with a seven-sided (equilateral curve heptagon) shape.
- Is the 2018 20p still legal tender?
- Yes. Every 20p, including the undated 2008 coin, is legal tender in the UK.
The 2018 20p coin in context
2018 was the second year in a row with no 20ps for circulation. As in 2017, the date was struck only for the Royal Mint's annual sets, so every 2018 20p started out in a pack. The background was the same: hundreds of millions of 20ps from 2015 and 2016 were still moving through the system and the shift to card and phone payments meant fewer coins were being taken out of banks each year. The Mint simply didn't need to add to the pile.
Production for change resumed in 2019 with 125,125,000 coins, so 2018 sits at the end of a two-year gap. The 2017 and 2018 20ps are often collected together for that reason. They are also part of a wider trend. Through the late 2010s and early 2020s the Royal Mint repeatedly skipped or cut back the smaller denominations as demand for cash fell. On the 20p that pattern began here and carried on into the low figures of 2020 and 2021, when output fell to a fraction of what it had been only a few years earlier.
How to recognize it
The coin carries Jody Clark's portrait of the Queen, wearing the diadem with crosses and sprays of flowers, with JC beneath the neck and 2018 in the legend. The reverse is the Royal Shield segment by Matthew Dent with TWENTY PENCE in words. Like every 20p since 1982 it is seven-sided, 21.4 mm across, 5 g and struck in cupronickel with a plain edge, so the date is the only way to pick it out. Proof examples from the sets show frosted design on mirror fields, while uncirculated ones look like any new coin. Read the date under good light, as the small digits in the legend wear quickly.
The other side carries Jody Clark's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, introduced in 2015 and the last of her reign.
2018 20p by the numbers
No 2018 20p coins were struck for circulation, so none were paid out by banks. For comparison, nearby circulation dates were 2015 Rank-Broadley Portrait 20p (63.2 million), 2015 Clark Portrait 20p (131.3 million), 2016 20p (212.6 million), 2019 20p (125.1 million), 2020 20p (32.7 million) and 2021 20p (19.6 million).
What to check on your 2018 20p
- Confirm the date. 2018 20p coins came only from collector sets, so a genuine one is often in very good condition.
- Count the sides: a genuine 20p has seven curved sides, measures 21.4 mm and weighs 5 g.
- 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.
The 2018 20p is, with 2017 and 1986, one of three dates made only for sets. Clean examples carry a small premium and an unopened set is the best way to own one. Because many sets were opened and their coins spent, a few do circulate. Collectors filling an album usually find the two late 2010s gaps harder than any of the low mintage dates, so a 2018 is worth setting aside whenever one appears. Mixed in with other recent 20ps it is very easy to miss.
Matthew Dent's Royal Shield twenty pence (2008 to 2022)
In 2008 every coin from 1p to 50p got a new reverse for the first time since decimalization. The Royal Mint had run an open competition and the winner was Matthew Dent, a young graphic designer whose idea was a jigsaw. He cut the Royal Shield into pieces and gave one to each coin, so the 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p and 50p laid out together rebuild the whole shield, while the round pound of the period showed it complete. The 20p carries its segment of the shield with TWENTY PENCE written in words. There is no numeral and no date on this side.
With the date gone from the reverse it had to move to the portrait side, which meant a new obverse die as well. That change caused the famous undated 20p of 2008: some coins were struck with the new shield reverse and the old obverse, so neither side shows a year. The coin itself stayed the same, seven-sided, 21.4 mm, 5 g and cupronickel. Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait ran until 2015, when Jody Clark's took over, so 2015 comes in two versions. Output swung widely: past 190 million in 2011, past 212 million in 2016, then nothing for change in 2017 or 2018.
For most shield 20ps the only question is condition, since they were made in huge numbers. A few things deserve a second look. First, turn every shield 20p over and make sure a date appears somewhere; if it doesn't, you have the undated mule. Second, the pandemic and the fall in cash use pushed output right down, with 32,725,000 in 2020 and only 19,600,000 in 2021. Third, 2017 and 2018 exist only in sets. Check the portrait on any 2015 coin, since the Rank-Broadley version is the smaller of the two.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 20 pence |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2018 |
| Circulation mintage | None (collector issue) |
| Composition | Cupronickel (84% copper, 16% nickel) |
| Weight | 5.0 g |
| Diameter | 21.4 mm |
| Shape | Seven-sided (equilateral curve heptagon) |
| Edge | Plain |
| Portrait | Clark |
Frequently asked questions
Is the 2018 20p rare?
It wasn't struck for circulation, so it only exists from collector sets. That makes it hard to find in change and gives it a small premium, though it isn't a significant rarity because the sets were sold widely.
Which 20p dates were made only for sets?
Three: 1986, 2017 and 2018. In each of those years the Royal Mint struck no 20ps for circulation because it already had enough in stock, so the dates were made only for annual sets.
Mintage figures: Twenty pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.