1999 5p Coin

Quick answers

Is the 1999 5p rare?

No. 195.5 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.

How many 1999 5p coins were made?

195,490,000 were struck for circulation.

What is the 1999 5p made of?

Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel). It weighs 3.25 g and measures 18 mm.

Is the 1999 5p still legal tender?

Yes. The current-size 5p is legal tender, for payments of up to 5 pounds in 5p and 10p coins.

How to recognize it

The other side carries Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, used from 1998 to 2015.

The 1999 5p is round, 18 mm across and cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel).

1999 5p by the numbers

In mintage terms the 1999 5p ranks 23rd lowest of 46 5p dates and varieties from 1968 to 2023. The next scarcer is the 1995 5p (183.4 million); the next more common is the 1998 5p (217.4 million).

For scale, the most common is the 1990 5p with 1.63 billion, about 8.4 times as many. The scarcest is the 1977 5p with 24.3 million, 8 times fewer than this one.

Compared with the dates around it, the 1999 output was 1.1 times fewer than 1998 and 2 times fewer than 2000.

Over the 1990s the Mint produced 4.04 billion 5p coins across 10 dates and varieties; the 1999 5p accounts for 4.8% of that.

What to check on your 1999 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 1999 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.

The smaller thistle five pence (1990 to 2008)

By the late 1980s the big 5p felt clumsy. Years of inflation had shrunk what five pence could buy, yet the coin was still as heavy as an old shilling. The Royal Mint made it smaller in June 1990, cutting it to 18 mm and 3.25 g while keeping the same cupronickel alloy and milled edge. The design was simply reduced to fit. Replacing every 5p in the country took an enormous number of coins: 1,634,976,005 were struck dated 1990, the biggest 5p figure ever. The large 5p and the last of the shillings ceased to be legal tender at the end of that year.

Ironside's crowned thistle carried on with FIVE PENCE and the numeral 5. Raphael Maklouf's portrait of the Queen in the State Diadem, signed RDM, ran until 1997. Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait followed in 1998, showing an older Queen in a tiara with IRB beneath the neck. After the giant first years demand settled down. Only 1993 was struck for sets alone. From 1995 to 2007 output never fell below 183 million in a year and it often passed 300 million, as shops and banks kept asking for fresh coins to keep up with everyday small change.

These are the coins most people over thirty still have in a pot somewhere. Nearly every date is common and worth face value in worn condition. The date that stands apart is the last one. In 2008 the Royal Mint struck 92,880,000 thistle 5ps before the new shield designs took over, the lowest circulation figure of the whole small thistle run. Uncirculated examples of any date come from the annual sets, which are also the only source for 1993. When judging condition, look at the thistle head and the arches of the crown, which flatten quickly at this small size.

Mintage chart

Specifications