Royal Shield 20p (2008 to 2022)

The shield 20p was made in vast numbers through most of its run, so circulated coins trade at face value whatever the date. Collector interest centres on coins that never went into change: the 2017 and 2018 dates from brilliant uncirculated and proof sets, and the 2022 set coins with the anniversary 40 below the portrait. Condition matters most for those set coins. A 2008 coin with no date on either side is the undated error, which is valued separately from this design.

With 1,478,272,830 struck for circulation, the Royal Shield 20p is the rarest of the 2 ranked 20p designs and has the 181st 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 lower circulation mintage. The next more common is the Crowned Rose 20p, with 3,136,766,148 struck.

Its lowest circulation mintage was in 2021, with 19,600,000 struck.

Look for part of a shield with a Scottish lion rampant and English lions, TWENTY PENCE along the right of the rim and no date on that side. Its year sits with the portrait, so if neither side shows one, you have the undated mule instead. Dates run from 2008 to 2022, with 2017 and 2018 made only for sets, and 2015 comes with either the Rank-Broadley or the Clark portrait. Some 2008 and 2009 coins, and possibly 2010, show a die break like an upside-down 1 in the rim at the bottom.

Known varieties of the Royal Shield 20p, all listed among the UK error coins and varieties:

• Upside-down 1 die break: A reverse die break on some 2008, 2009 and possibly 2010 coins looks like an upside-down 1 in the middle of the raised rim at the bottom of the reverse.
• 2022 40th anniversary mint mark: Brilliant uncirculated 2022 coins carry a small 40 below the portrait for the 20p's 40th anniversary; none were made for circulation.
• Undated mule: Some coins struck in 2008 paired this reverse with the old obverse, so they carry no date anywhere.

Matthew Dent, from Bangor in Wales, won the Royal Mint's competition to redesign every coin from the 1p up to the £1 coin, and the 20p is one piece of his puzzle. Each of the six smaller coins carries a section of the Royal Shield of Arms, while the round £1 showed the shield complete. The 20p holds the lower right section, where the second quarter meets the fourth, so it shows part of Scotland's lion rampant and England's lions passant guardant, cut off by the edge of the coin. TWENTY PENCE runs along the right-hand side of the rim and Dent's initials MD sit on this side. The date, which Gardner's rose 20p had carried on its reverse, moved to the obverse, and the legend there was rearranged around the portrait to fit it in. Pairing the new reverse with an old obverse die by mistake is what produced the undated 20p of 2008. The heads side switched to Jody Clark's portrait of the Queen during 2015. For the 20p's 40th anniversary in 2022, brilliant uncirculated coins gained a small 40 below the portrait. The last shield 20ps are dated 2022.