2018 5p Coin
The 2018 5p 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
- 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 2018 5p worth?
No 2018 5p 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 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 2018 5p rare?
- It is scarcer than most 5p coins. It was never issued into circulation, so most examples are in collector packs.
- How many 2018 5p coins were made?
- None were made for circulation. The Mint sold this design only in packs and sets.
- What is the 2018 5p made of?
- Nickel-plated steel. It weighs 3.25 g and measures 18 mm.
- Is the 2018 5p still legal tender?
- Yes. The current-size 5p is legal tender, for payments of up to 5 pounds in 5p and 10p coins.
The 2018 5p coin in context
If you have never seen a 2018 5p in your change, there is a good reason. None were issued for circulation that year. The Royal Mint struck 2018 5ps only for its annual collector sets, so the date exists, but it never went out to banks in the normal way. It is the only shield 5p without a circulation figure, which makes it the odd one out among the Clark portrait dates and the one gap that most people trying to fill a date run from their own change will never close without help.
The pause came as cash use was falling. The Mint had made 305,740,000 5ps in 2016 and 220,515,000 in 2017. With plenty of coins already in use, there was simply no need to make more for change in 2018. When production for circulation returned in 2019 it was at a much lower level, 92,800,000. Output kept sliding through the pandemic years that followed. Seen on a chart, 2018 is the moment the 5p's long run of big mintages broke. The coin has never come close to its old levels since.
How to recognize it
A 2018 5p looks like any other coin of its time. Jody Clark's portrait of the Queen in the George IV State Diadem is on the obverse with JC under the neck and the date 2018 in the legend. Matthew Dent's section of the Royal Shield fills the reverse with FIVE PENCE. The coin is nickel-plated steel, 18 mm across and 3.25 g in weight, magnetic, with a milled edge. There is no special design for the year and no separate variety. Only the date sets it apart, so a 2018 found loose is identical to one still sealed in its set.
The other side carries Jody Clark's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, introduced in 2015 and the last of her reign.
2018 5p by the numbers
No 2018 5p coins were struck for circulation, so none were paid out by banks. For comparison, nearby circulation dates were 2015 Rank-Broadley Portrait 5p (163 million), 2015 Clark Portrait 5p (536.6 million), 2016 5p (305.7 million), 2017 5p (220.5 million), 2019 5p (92.8 million), 2020 5p (49.2 million) and 2021 5p (28 million).
What to check on your 2018 5p
- Confirm the date. 2018 5p coins came only from collector sets, so a genuine one is often in very good condition.
- Try a magnet: 2018 5p 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.
Sets-only dates are the ones collectors chase in change, because the only 2018 5ps out there are ones someone took out of a set and spent. That does happen, so it pays to check the date on every shield 5p. A loose 2018 in good condition brings more than face value from collectors. The more usual way to own one is in the year's uncirculated or proof set, which is how most people fill this gap in a date run.
Matthew Dent's shield five pence (2008 to 2022)
In 2008 the Royal Mint replaced the reverses of all six coins from 1p to 50p for the first time since decimal designs were introduced. Matthew Dent won the open competition with an idea that turned the coins into a puzzle. Each one carries a single section of the Royal Shield of Arms. Laid side by side in the right order, they form the whole shield, while the round pound of the period showed it complete on one coin. The 5p's section comes with FIVE PENCE written in words and no numeral at all, so the value has to be read rather than glanced at.
The metal changed next. From 2011 the 5p has been made of nickel-plated steel instead of solid cupronickel, mainly to cut the cost of nickel. The new coin keeps the 18 mm size and 3.25 g weight but is slightly thicker. Its steel core also makes it magnetic. A magnet is the quickest way to tell a 2011 or later coin from an earlier one. The portrait changed in 2015, when Jody Clark's likeness of the Queen, signed JC, replaced Ian Rank-Broadley's, so that year comes in two versions.
Most shield 5ps were made by the hundred million, with a peak of 885,004,520 in 2014. Then the use of cash fell away. The 2018 coins were made only for sets and output slid through the pandemic years to 28,000,000 in 2021, the lowest of the shield design. Apart from 2018, which you are unlikely to meet in change, none are rare, but the later dates are noticeably harder to find than the early ones. Check any 2015 coin for the portrait. Keep the cleanest 2019 to 2022 coins you come across, since those are the gaps collectors are filling.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 5 pence |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2018 |
| Circulation mintage | None (collector issue) |
| Composition | Nickel-plated steel |
| Weight | 3.25 g |
| Diameter | 18 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Milled |
| Portrait | Clark |
Frequently asked questions
Were any 2018 5p coins put into circulation?
Not officially. The Royal Mint made 2018 5ps only for collector sets. Any you find in change were taken out of a set and spent, which is why they turn up so rarely compared with every other shield date.
Is a 2018 5p found in change worth keeping?
Yes. It is the only shield 5p that was never issued to banks, so a loose one is a genuine find. Check that it really reads 2018 and keep it away from damp, since plated steel coins can mark.
Mintage figures: Five pence (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.