The
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
five pound (£5)
coin
A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order t ...
is a commemorative denomination of
sterling coinage. As of October 2022, the obverse of new coins feature the profile of
King Charles III
Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...
. The obverse previously depicted
Queen Elizabeth II between the coin's introduction in 1990 and
the Queen's death in 2022. Two different portraits of the Queen graced the coin, with the last design by
Ian Rank-Broadley
Ian Rank-Broadley FRBS (born 1952) is a British sculptor who has produced many acclaimed works, among which are several designs for British coinage and the memorial statue of Princess Diana at Kensington Palace in London unveiled on her 60th ...
being introduced in 1998. The coin has no standard reverse; instead it is altered each year to commemorate important events. Variant obverses have also been used on occasion.
The coin is a continuation of the
crown
A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...
, which after decimalisation became the commemorative
twenty-five pence coin. The twenty-five pence was discontinued in 1981 after creating a large coin with such small value became prohibitively expensive. The five pound coin shares the same dimensions as the twenty-five pence coin, and the five shilling coin before it, but has a nominal value twenty times greater.
Five pound coins are legal tender but are intended as souvenirs and are rarely seen in circulation.
The coins are sold by the Royal Mint at face value and also, with presentation folders, at a premium to that face value. The 2010 coins, with such folders, were sold for £9.95 each. As of 2020 the coin and folder cost £13.
A £5 memorial crown featuring the image of Charles III was released on October 3, 2022.
Separate five pound coin designs have also been released in various
British crown dependencies and
British Overseas Territories. These are outside of the scope of this article and are not listed below.
Design
Queen Elizabeth II
The designs which have appeared on the five pound coin's reverse are summarised in the table below.
Charles III
C = Circulating
Coin Sets
Additionally, the Royal Mint have released a number of five pound coin sets in silver proof quality.
2012 Olympics Set
A series of 18 commemorative £5 coins were issued to celebrate the London 2012 Olympics.
# Mind Stonehenge
# Mind Big Ben
# Mind Angel of the North
# Mind Flying Scotsman
# Mind The Globe Theatre
# Mind Sir Isaac Newton
# Body Giant's Causeway
# Body The Great British Oak
# Body River Thames
# Body Weather
# Body British Fauna
# Body The Coastline of Britain
# Spirit Courage
# Spirit Pageantry
# Spirit Unity
# Spirit Music
# Spirit Humour
# Spirit Tolerance
Queen's Portrait Set
Four proof coins were released as part of the 2013 ''Queen's Portrait'' set. These coins feature the four portraits of Elizabeth II that appear on British coins.
The Portrait of Britain Set
Sixteen silver proof coins have been released as part of the 'Portrait of Britain' set.
*2015 Big Ben (Elizabeth Tower)
*2015 Tower Bridge
*2015 Trafalgar Square
*2015 Buckingham Palace
*2016 White Cliffs of Dover
*2016 Giant's Causeway
*2016 Lake District
*2016 Snowdonia
*2017 Westminster Abbey
*2017 Hampton Court Palace
*2017 Downing Street
*2017 Edinburgh Castle
*2018 Blackpool
*2018 Brighton
*2018 Tenby
*2018 Southwold
The First World War Set
A series of silver proof coins have been released as part of the 'First World War' set. 36 coins were released as part of this series.
*2014 - British Expeditionary Force
*2014 - Royal Navy Coin
*2014 - Home Front Coin
*2014 - Walter Tull
*2014 - Propaganda
*2014 - Howitzer Gun
*2015 - Albert Ball VC
*2015 - Animals at War
*2015 - Submarines
*2015 - Edith Cavell
*2015 - Merchant Navy
*2015 - Gallipoli
*2016 - Poetry and Language
*2016 - The Somme
*2016 - Jutland
*2016 - Jack Cornell VC
*2016 - The Army
*2016 - Dreadnought
*2017 - Noel Godfrey Chavasse VC
*2017 - The dedication of the medical services
*2017 - The cultural importance of the war artist
*2017 - The Sopwith Camel
*2017 - Gas warfare
*2017 - The Battle of Arras
*2018 - TE Lawrence
*2018 - Ypres
*2018 - Tanks
*2018 - Royal Air force
*2018 - Women in factories
*2018 - Widows left behind
*2018 - Remembrance Day
*2018 - War Memorials
*2018 - Poppies
*2018 - Imperial War Museums
*2018 - Commonwealth War Graves
*2018 - Peace
References
External links
*
Royal Mint – £5 coin, design and specifications
{{DEFAULTSORT:Five Pounds (British Coin)
Coins of the United Kingdom
Five-base-unit coins