Crowned Rose 20p (1982 to 2008)

Every circulation year of the rose 20p was struck in large numbers, and worn coins of any date trade at face value. What collectors pay extra for is condition and the details that set a coin apart: brilliant uncirculated coins from year sets, the set-only 1986 date, the 1992 large head, and the 2008 rose coins, the smallest circulation date of the run. A rose 20p struck on a bronze blank by mistake is a separate error coin and is valued on its own.

With 3,136,766,148 struck for circulation, the Crowned Rose 20p is the second rarest of the 2 ranked 20p designs and has the 188th lowest mintage of all 194 circulating UK designs. That puts it in the Common band, for mintages 10,000,000 or more.

No 20p design has a higher circulation mintage. The next rarer is the Royal Shield 20p, with 1,478,272,830 struck.

Its lowest circulation mintage was in 2008, with 11,900,000 struck.

Look for the crowned rose with TWENTY PENCE and the date split either side of it and a large 20 underneath. No other 20p design puts the year on the tails side. Dates run from 1982 to 2008, with no 1986 coins in change, as that year was made only for sets. On a 1992 coin, look for the larger Maklouf head, the harder of the two portraits that year. Some 2000 to 2002 coins have a 2 ending in a curved drop, and some 2008 coins lack part of a leaf.

Known varieties of the Crowned Rose 20p, all listed among the UK error coins and varieties:

• 1992 small head and large head: The Maklouf portrait was enlarged slightly during 1992, so 1992 coins exist with both portrait sizes. The large head is the harder one to find.
• 2000 to 2002 curved 2: Some 2000, 2001 and 2002 coins have a digit 2 that ends in a curved drop rather than a straight line.
• 2008 missing leaf: Some 2008 coins are missing part of one leaf, most likely from worn dies.
• Bronze coloured strike: A few coins of this design were struck by mistake on bronze blanks instead of cupro-nickel.

The 20p was a brand new denomination rather than a replacement for an old coin. A public consultation in 1980 found a need for a new coin between the 10p and the 50p, and the 20p that followed, first issued on 9 June 1982, was meant to lighten the coins people carried by taking some of the 10ps out of use. It borrowed the equilateral curve heptagon of the 50p at a much smaller size, a seven-sided outline chosen so it could not be mistaken for other coins and would still work in vending machines. William Gardner designed the reverse: a crowned Tudor double rose, the heraldic rose of England under a royal crown, with TWENTY PENCE and the date on either side, the numeral 20 below and his initials W G. Because the date sat on the rose side, the obverse needed only the Queen's portrait and ELIZABETH II D G REG F D. Arnold Machin's portrait was used until 1984, Raphael Maklouf's from 1985 and Ian Rank-Broadley's from 1998. Matthew Dent's shield design replaced the rose part way through 2008.