Elizabeth II 1952 - 2022

In 1982 the Royal Mint introduced a new denomination, the 20 Pence Piece. As most collectors are aware, it was in fact not a new denomination, but a recreation of the Double Florin which was issued under Queen Victoria from 1887-1890. This coin had many sides and the public immediately liked it. The Royal Mint issued a small quantity of these coins in Sterling Silver Proof but they were double the normal thickness and are called a Piedfort. This is the first Piedfort that the Royal Mint allowed collectors to buy and has proved to be very popular. They are struck in Proof Sterling Silver and come in a blue Royal Mint case of issue.

In 1996 the Royal Mint did something they had never done before. They issued a Proof Set of the then-current 1996 coins but, every coin was struck in Proof Sterling Silver. You have the 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p 50p and £1 all struck in Proof Sterling Silver. Here we present the 20p.

This single Proof decimal coin has been taken from the Proof Sets of the respective year. Over the years some of the coins will have toned a little, but that does not change the fact that they are Proof coins; supplies are limited!

In 1968 when the first decimal coins were issued they carried the denomination, ‘New Pence’ to differentiate them from the pre-decimal Pence or Penny coins. In 1982 the Mint felt that we had enough time to differentiate between the two Pence so they changed the denomination to Pence from New Pence. On most of the coins that was fine but there was one problem in the making. The Mint had decided that the lowly Half Pence was too low and value and would shortly stop making them. In fact in 1983 they did stop making them and in 1984 they only made the coins in the Mint and Proof Sets. So the 1982 Half Pence is the last coin that was actually struck for circulation. The Half Pence coin was only struck for three years and two of those coins are difficult to get and can be expensive. We bought an original bag of the 1982 Half Pence coins in Brilliant Uncirculated condition, it is scarcer than most people realise and priced rather reasonably. Get them while you can…

This single Proof decimal coin has been taken from the Proof Sets of the respective year. Over the years some of the coins will have toned a little, but that does not change the fact that they are Proof coins; supplies are limited!