Five pence ( British coin ) - wikipedia Five pence ( British coin ) Five pence United Kingdom Value 0.05 pound sterling Mass ( 1968 -- 1990 ) 5.65 g ( 1990 -- present ) 3.25 g Diameter ( 1968 -- 1990 ) 23.59 mm ( 1990 -- present ) 18.00 mm Thickness ( Cupro - nickel ) 1.7 mm ( Steel ) 1.89 mm Edge Milled Composition Cupronickel ( 1968 -- 2010 ) Nickel - plated steel ( 2011 -- ) Years of minting 1968 -- present Obverse Design Queen Elizabeth II Designer Jody Clark Design date 2015 Reverse Design Segment of the Royal Shield Designer Matthew Dent Design date 2008 The British decimal five pence ( 5p ) coin -- often pronounced five pee -- is a unit of currency equaling five one - hundredths of a pound sterling. Its obverse has featured the profile of Queen Elizabeth II since the coin 's introduction on 23rd April 1968, replacing the shilling in preparation for decimalisation in 1971. A smaller version of the coin was introduced in June 1990 with the older coins being withdrawn on 31st December 1990. Four different portraits of the Queen have been used, with the latest design by Jody Clark being introduced in 2015. The second and current reverse, featuring a segment of the Royal Shield, was introduced in 2008. Five pence and ten pence coins are legal tender only up to the sum of £ 5 ; this means it is permissible to refuse payment of sums greater than this amount in 5p and 10p coins to settle a debt. The five pence coin was originally minted from cupronickel ( 75 % Cu, 25 % Ni ), but since 2011 it has been minted in nickel - plated steel due to the increasing price of metal. From January 2013, the Royal Mint began a programme to gradually remove the previous cupro - nickel coins from circulation with replacement by the nickel - plated steel versions. As of March 2014, an estimated 3,847 million 5p coins were in circulation with an estimated face value of £ 192.370 million. Contents 1 Design 2 Mintages 3 References 4 External links Design Original reverse : 1968 -- 2008 The original reverse of the coin, designed by Christopher Ironside, and used from 1968 to 2008, is a crowned thistle ( formally, The Badge of Scotland, a thistle royally crowned ), with the numeral `` 5 '' below the thistle, and either NEW PENCE ( 1968 -- 1981 ) or FIVE PENCE ( 1982 -- 2008 ) above the thistle. To date, three different obverses have been used. In all cases, the inscription is ELIZABETH II D.G. REG. F.D. 2013, where 2013 is replaced by the year of minting. In the original design, both sides of the coin are encircled by dots, a common feature on coins, known as beading. As with all new decimal currency, until 1984 the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by Arnold Machin appeared on the obverse, in which the Queen wears the ' Girls of Great Britain and Ireland ' Tiara. Between 1985 and 1997, the portrait by Raphael Maklouf was used, in which the Queen wears the George IV State Diadem. On 27th June 1990 a reduced size version of the five pence coin was introduced. The older larger coins were withdrawn on 31st December 1990. The design remained unchanged. From 1998 to 2015, the portrait by Ian Rank - Broadley was used, again featuring the tiara, with a signature - mark IRB below the portrait. As of June 2015, coins bearing the portrait by Jody Clark have been seen in circulation. In August 2005 the Royal Mint launched a competition to find new reverse designs for all circulating coins apart from the £ 2 coin. The winner, announced in April 2008, was Matthew Dent, whose designs were gradually introduced into the circulating British coinage from mid-2008. The designs for the 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p and 50p coins depict sections of the Royal Shield that form the whole shield when placed together. The shield in its entirety is featured on the £ 1 coin. The 5p coin depicts the centre of the Royal shield, showing the meeting point of the four quarters. The coin 's obverse remains largely unchanged, but the beading ( the ring of dots around the coin 's circumference ), which no longer features on the coin 's reverse, has also been removed from the obverse. Mintages Machin portrait 1968 ~ 98,868,250 1969 ~ 120,270,000 1970 ~ 225,948,525 1971 ~ 81,783,475 1972 ~ None 1973 ~ None 1974 ~ None 1975 ~ 141,539,000 1976 ~ None 1977 ~ 24,308,000 1978 ~ 61,094,000 1979 ~ 155,456,000 1980 ~ 220,566,000 1981 ~ None 1982 ~ None 1983 ~ None 1984 ~ None Maklouf portrait 1985 ~ None 1986 ~ None 1987 ~ 48,220,000 1988 ~ 120,744,610 1989 ~ 101,406,000 size reduced 1990 ~ 1,634,976,005 1991 ~ 724,979,000 1992 ~ 453,173,500 1993 ~ None 1994 ~ 93,602,000 1995 ~ 3,384,000 1996 ~ 302,902,000 1997 ~ 236,596,000 Rank - Broadley portrait 1998 ~ 217,376,000 1999 ~ 195,490,000 2000 ~ 388,512,000 2001 ~ 337,930,000 2002 ~ 219,258,000 2003 ~ 333,230,000 2004 ~ 271,810,000 2005 ~ 236,212,000 2006 ~ 317,697,000 2007 ~ 246,720,000 2008 ~ 92,880,000 ( Ironside ) 2008 ~ 5,172,000 ( Dent ) 2009 ~ 1,020,960,300 2010 ~ 396,245,500 2011 ~ 50,400,000 2012 ~ 339,802,350 2013 ~ 378,800,750 2014 ~ 885,004,520 2015 ~ 163,000,000 Clark portrait 2015 ~ 536,600,000 2016 ~ 308,200,000 References Jump up ^ Bignell, C P. `` Post decimalisation ''. Retrieved 2006 - 05 - 23. Jump up ^ Royal Mint Frequently Asked Questions Archived January 8, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ Decimal Five Pence author = Tony Clayton Jump up ^ `` Cupro Nickel Replacement Programme ''. Royal Mint. 2013. Jump up ^ `` Mintage Figures ''. Royal Mint. Retrieved 28 December 2015. Jump up ^ Clayton, Tony. `` Decimal Coins of the UK -- Bronze ''. Retrieved 2006 - 05 - 24. ^ Jump up to : `` 1p Coin ''. British Royal Mint. Archived from the original on 2006 - 04 - 27. Retrieved 2006 - 05 - 23. Jump up ^ `` Royal Mint seeks new coin designs '', BBC News, 17 August 2005 Jump up ^ `` Royal Mint unveils new UK coins '' Archived September 7, 2008, at the Wayback Machine., 2 April 2008 Jump up ^ Mintage figures, Royal Mint External links Royal Mint -- 5p coin Coins of the UK -- Decimal 5p coins Coins from United Kingdom : Five Pence Online Coin Club Preceded by Shilling Five Pence 1971 -- Present Succeeded by Current British coinage Decimal ⁄ p 1p 2p 5p 10p 20p 50p £ 1 £ 2 Pre-decimal Quarter farthing ( ⁄ d ) Third farthing ( ⁄ d ) Half farthing ( ⁄ d ) Farthing ( ⁄ d ) Halfpenny ( ⁄ d ) Penny ( 1d ) Three halfpence ( 1 ⁄ d ) Twopence ( 2d ) Threepence ( 3d ) Fourpence ( 4d ) Sixpence ( 6d ) Shilling ( 1 / - ) Florin ( 2 / - ) Half crown ( 2 / 6d ) Double florin ( 4 / - ) Crown ( 5 / - ) Quarter guinea ( 5 / 3d ) Third guinea ( 7 / - ) Half sovereign ( 10 / - ) Half guinea ( 10 / 6d ) Sovereign ( £ 1 ) Guinea ( £ 1 / 1s ) Double sovereign ( £ 2 ) Two guineas ( £ 2 / 2s ) Five pound ( £ 5 ) Five guineas ( £ 5 / 5s ) Non-circulating Commemorative 25p £ 5 £ 20 £ 50 £ 100 Maundy money Bullion Britannia Quarter sovereign Half sovereign Sovereign Lunar The Queen 's Beasts Landmarks of Britain See also Pound sterling Coins of the pound sterling Banknotes of the pound sterling List of British banknotes and coins List of British currencies Scottish coinage Coins of Ireland List of people on coins of the United Kingdom Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Five_pence_(British_coin)&oldid=799884788 '' Categories : Coins of the United Kingdom Currency introduced in 1968 Five - cent coins Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links Pages using deprecated image syntax Talk Contents About Wikipedia Español Français Italiano Norsk Polski Русский Українська 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 10 September 2017, at 11 : 44. 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Question: when did the new 5p come into circulation
Answer: June 1990