Undated 20p (2008)
The undated 20p is the 2008 mule with no year on either side, struck when the new shield reverse was paired with the old heads die. People look it up to check whether a shield 20p with no visible date is the real error. It is one of the five 20p designs struck since 1982.
Undated 20p value
- Circulated
- typical £60, range £50 to £82
- Uncirculated
- typical £51, range £40 to £250
Worked out from 14 published prices (6 sold-price reports, 6 price guides, 1 news report of a sold price and 1 dealer price), each condition from its own prices, checked in September 2026.
A genuine undated 20p sells well above face value even when worn, because it is a famous error that was found in ordinary change. Condition counts, but authenticity counts most. Forgeries exist, so buyers check the portrait for soft detail and an unusual shine before paying a premium, and a coin that shows a date on either side is not the error at all.
Undated 20p mintage and rarity
No circulation mintage has been published for the Undated 20p, so it has no rarity rank.
How to spot an Undated 20p
Check both sides. The tails side must show the partial Royal Shield with TWENTY PENCE and no date, and the heads side must show the Queen with ELIZABETH II D G REG F D and no year anywhere. A shield 20p with a date on the heads side is a normal coin, and a crowned rose 20p always has its date on the rose side. Watch for copies: forgeries with a proof-like shine and weak detail in the Queen's eye and hair have been reported.
Undated 20p design
The undated 20p came out of the 2008 redesign. Matthew Dent's Royal Shield reverse, which shows the lower right section of the shield with TWENTY PENCE along the rim, left no room for a year, so the date was moved to the obverse and the legend there was rearranged to include it. In November 2008 some 20ps were struck with the new reverse die and the obverse die from the crowned rose coins, which had never needed a date because the rose side carried it. The result was a coin with no year anywhere. The Royal Mint later said the fault affected only a small share of the 20ps made in 2008 and 2009, and the coins were reported in circulation by June 2009. It was the first British coin without a date to enter circulation in more than three hundred years, and the story spread quickly. The heads side shows Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait with ELIZABETH II D G REG F D and the initials IRB. The Royal Mint confirmed that the coins remain legal tender.
Undated 20p specifications
- Denomination
- 20p
- Year
- 2008
- Type
- Error or mule
- Issue
- Issued for circulation
- Occasion
- Mule struck in 2008: the new Royal Shield reverse paired with the old undated obverse
- Designer
- Matthew Dent
- Composition
- Cupro-nickel (84% copper, 16% nickel)
- Weight
- 5 g
- Diameter
- 21.4 mm
- Shape
- Seven-sided
- Edge
- Plain
- Obverse
- Elizabeth II, fourth portrait by Ian Rank-Broadley
Undated 20p questions
How do I know if my 20p is the undated one?
Look for a year on both sides. If the shield side and the portrait side both lack a date, it is the undated mule. Any date on the heads side means a normal Royal Shield 20p.
Is the undated 20p still legal tender?
Yes. The Royal Mint has confirmed that the undated coins remain legal tender with a face value of 20p, although collectors pay well above that for one.
Why does the undated 20p have no date?
In 2008 the year moved from the reverse to the obverse. Some coins were struck with the new shield reverse and an old obverse die from the rose 20p, so neither side carried a year.