British Five Pences

Reverse of 1961 Shilling

Reverse of 1990 Five Pence

The Story of the Five Pence.
A Brief History.

Decimal Equivalent of the Shilling
The five pence or fivepence is the decimal equivalent of the old shilling. We give a brief history of the shilling on our shilling story page. The last shilling issued for circulation was dated 1966, although proofs dated 1970 were issued in a "farewell" set.

First of the New
The five pence, along with the ten pence, was issued as early as 1968. As the United Kingdom only decimalised in 1971 in 1971, these fivepences circulated as shillings as they were identical in size, colour and composition. This undoubtedly helped familiarise people with the impending new decimal coins.

No Longer New
In 1982, the word "new" was omitted from the inscription on the reverse, so that it read "five pence" instead of the previous "new pence". In both cases, there was a figure "5" below the crowned thistle to denote the value.

Third Portrait
As with all other British coins, from 1985 there was a new portrait by Raphael Maklouf, the third major portrait used for Elizabeth II.

New Smaller Size
From 1990, the size of the five pence coin was reduced from 25.39 to 18.00 millimetres,and its weight from 5.65 to 3.25 grams. The old size five pences and shillings were withdrawn shortly afterwards.

Too Small?
At 18 millimetres, the five pence is our smallest coin, smaller even than our lowest valued coin the penny. Because of this small size, it is not universally popular as many people find it difficult to handle. The 1 euro cent is smaller still at only 16.25 millimetres.

If you want to find the value of a coin you own, please take a look at our page I've Found An Old Coin, What's It Worth?