Crowned Lion (TEN PENCE, large) 10p (1982 to 1992)

None of these large coins went into change, so every one started life in a Royal Mint year set, either brilliant uncirculated or proof. That makes state of preservation the main factor: a high-grade coin still in its original set is worth more than a loose one with handling marks. Dates with smaller set issues, such as 1991, are priced higher by dealers than the commoner set years. The coin is no longer legal tender, so it has no spending value.

The Crowned Lion (TEN PENCE, large) 10p was not issued for circulation, so it has no rarity rank.

It is the same size as the NEW PENCE lion and far bigger than today's 10p, so the words above the lion are what matter: TEN PENCE means this later version. The obverse date runs from 1982 to 1992. Coins dated 1982 to 1984 carry Arnold Machin's portrait, and from 1985 the Queen wears the diadem in Raphael Maklouf's portrait. Do not confuse a large 1992 coin with the small 1992 lion, which has the same design at the new size.

In 1982 the wording on the 10p changed from NEW PENCE to TEN PENCE. Christopher Ironside's crowned lion from the crest of England stayed exactly as it was, still walking with its head turned outwards and still sitting above the numeral 10 inside a beaded border, so the swap of one word is the only difference from the earlier large coin. The big coin was, by then, no longer struck for everyday use: every large TEN PENCE 10p dated 1982 to 1992 was made for The Royal Mint's annual proof and brilliant uncirculated sets. Arnold Machin's portrait of the Queen was on the heads side until 1984, and from 1985 Raphael Maklouf's portrait, with the Queen in the George IV State Diadem, replaced it. A coinage review in 1987 led to a smaller, lighter 10p, issued in September 1992, and the large coins, set pieces included, were demonetised in 1993. That is why a 1992 large 10p exists in sets beside the first small ones.