1977 5p Coin
The 1977 5p is a 5p coin struck for circulation with 24.3 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1977
- Circulation mintage
- 24,308,000
- 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 1977 5p worth?
24.3 million were made, so the 1977 5p is common. It is the original large size, which is no longer legal tender, so a worn one has no spending value; collectors only want uncirculated examples and the scarcer dates.
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 1977 5p rare?
- No. 24.3 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 1977 5p coins were made?
- 24,308,000 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 1977 5p made of?
- Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel). It weighs 5.65 g and measures 23.59 mm.
- Is the 1977 5p still legal tender?
- No. The original large 5p stopped being legal tender in 1990, after the smaller coin arrived. Collectors still keep scarce dates.
The 1977 5p coin in context
1977 was the Queen's Silver Jubilee year, but the 5p shows no sign of it. The reverse is the same crowned thistle with NEW PENCE that had been used since 1968. What makes the date stand out is how few were made. The Royal Mint struck only 24,308,000 5ps for circulation in 1977, the smallest circulation figure of any 5p date from 1968 to 2023. That is fewer than the 28,000,000 of 2021, a year when cash use had collapsed during the pandemic. It is lower even than the King's first 5p of 2023.
The low figure reflects how uneven demand was in the 1970s. The Mint had made 141,539,000 in 1975 and then nothing for change in 1976, so demand was clearly being met from existing stocks. Once those ran down, output recovered to 61,094,000 in 1978 and to 155,456,000 in 1979. A run of 24 million sounds large, yet spread across the whole country and thirteen years of use before the large 5p was withdrawn, it soon vanished into everyday change. Very few people thought to keep one back, since nothing on the coin hinted that it would end up as the scarcest of the series.
How to recognize it
Like every 5p of its period, the 1977 coin carries Christopher Ironside's crowned thistle with NEW PENCE and the numeral 5. Arnold Machin's portrait of the Queen in a tiara is on the obverse, surrounded by ELIZABETH II D G REG F D 1977. The coin is the large size, 23.59 mm and 5.65 g, in cupronickel with a milled edge. There is no separate variety for the year and no Jubilee mark, so a 1977 can only be picked out by reading the date in the legend. On worn coins that date can be faint, so tilt the coin under a good light before you rule one out.
The other side carries Arnold Machin's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, used on UK coins from 1968 to 1984.
1977 5p by the numbers
By the numbers, the 1977 5p is the lowest of 46 5p dates and varieties from 1968 to 2023. The next more common is the 2021 5p (28 million).
Compared with the dates around it, the 1977 output was 5.8 times fewer than 1975 and 2.5 times fewer than 1978.
Over the 1970s the Mint produced 690.1 million 5p coins across 10 dates and varieties; the 1977 5p accounts for 3.5% of that.
What to check on your 1977 5p
- Confirm the date. Most dates are common, so the date and any variety decide whether a coin is worth setting aside.
- Try a magnet: cupronickel 5p coins like this 1977 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.
This is the key date of the large 5p, though the word key needs some care. It is not a great rarity and worn coins still turn up in old collections. Because the large 5p is no longer legal tender, every example now trades between collectors. A tired 1977 brings only a small premium. A sharp uncirculated one is a different matter. Few people saved this date on purpose, so bright coins with a full crown and clean thistle leaves can carry a collector premium. The year's proof set is the easiest way to own one in top condition.
The large crowned thistle five pence (1968 to 1989)
The 5p was one of the first two decimal coins Britain ever saw. It went into circulation in April 1968 with the 10p, almost three years before Decimal Day on 15 February 1971. The trick that made this possible was size. The new coin matched the shilling exactly, 23.59 mm across and 5.65 g in weight, so it could be spent as a shilling while the old money was still in use and simply carry on afterwards as five new pence. Shillings stayed legal tender alongside it until the end of 1990.
Christopher Ironside designed the reverse: a thistle beneath a royal crown, the badge of Scotland, with a large figure 5. Until 1981 the wording reads NEW PENCE, a reminder that the system was new. From 1982 it reads FIVE PENCE instead. Arnold Machin's portrait of the Queen in a tiara is on the obverse until 1984, with the legend ELIZABETH II D G REG F D and the date. Raphael Maklouf's portrait, with the Queen in the George IV State Diadem, replaced it in 1985. The coin is cupronickel of 75% copper and 25% nickel with a milled edge.
Output was very uneven. Huge runs in 1970 and 1980 sit beside long gaps when no 5ps were made for change at all: 1972 to 1974, 1976 and every year from 1981 to 1986. Those dates exist only in the Royal Mint's annual sets. The lowest circulation figure is 1977, at 24,308,000. None will reach you in change today, because the large 5p stopped being legal tender at the end of 1990 after the smaller coin arrived. Old jars and drawers are where they hide now. Look for sharp thistle leaves and a clear crown, since those are the first details to wear away.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 5 pence |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 1977 |
| Circulation mintage | 24,308,000 |
| Composition | Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel) |
| Weight | 5.65 g |
| Diameter | 23.59 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Milled |
| Portrait | Machin |
Frequently asked questions
Is the 1977 5p the rarest 5p?
It has the lowest circulation mintage of any 5p, 24,308,000. Dates made only for sets, such as 1972 or 1983, are harder to find loose, but among coins actually issued to banks the 1977 is the scarcest.
Does the Silver Jubilee appear on the 1977 5p?
No. The Jubilee was marked by a special crown coin, not by changes to the everyday coins. The 1977 5p has the normal crowned thistle reverse and Arnold Machin's portrait, so only the date tells you it comes from the Jubilee year.
Mintage figures: Five pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.