# What UK country is this coin from? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 27, 2013, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-uk-country-is-this-coin-from/654064 "2013-03-27T01:27:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2013, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-uk-country-is-this-coin-from/654064/21 "2013-03-28T01:50:53Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Actually, a coin isn’t automatically from one of the Commonwealth countries just because the British monarch is on it. The Isle of Man, for example, is not a member of the Commonwealth, but Queen Elizabeth is on all the circulating coinage. Even some countries which have no historical connection to the UK at all have featured her on commemorative coins. She was also on Fijian circulating coins until last year, even though she was deposed as monarch in 1987 and Fiji has been suspended from the Commonwealth several times. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2013, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-uk-country-is-this-coin-from/654064/22 "2013-03-28T07:48:50Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > The shillings were kept in circulation until the 5p coin was made smaller in the 90s, but the 5p coins released in 1968 had a single Scotland-themed design. (The three original coins with pre-decimal equivalents were all put into circulation ahead of decimalisation.) Also note that while the 5p and 10p coins became smaller, they didn’t change in reverse design from the 1968 edition (except that for many years now decimal coins have been inscribed, say, FIVE PENCE in words as well as the numeral 5, whereas the 1968 ones said NEW PENCE and had the number given _only_ by the numeral. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2013, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-uk-country-is-this-coin-from/654064/23 "2013-03-28T08:45:32Z")
They have changed recently, however - the latest edition of the 5p coin bears the central portion of the Royal Shield (the coins are arranged in a sort of jigsaw puzzle, [thusly](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a8/New_British_Coinage_2008.jpg)) ETA: therefore, the OP’s coin was minted sometime between 1990 and 2008 ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2013, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-uk-country-is-this-coin-from/654064/24 "2013-03-28T12:37:26Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > They have changed recently, however - the latest edition of the 5p coin bears the central portion of the Royal Shield (the coins are arranged in a sort of jigsaw puzzle, [thusly](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a8/New_British_Coinage_2008.jpg)) > > ETA: therefore, the OP’s coin was minted sometime between 1990 and 2008 And the year can be determiined from the obverse (the side with the royal bust): the text surrounding the bust is ELIZABETH II D.G. REG. F.D. 199x or 200x (“Elizabeth II by the grace of God Queen, Defender of the Faith [year]”) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2013, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-uk-country-is-this-coin-from/654064/25 "2013-03-28T13:12:48Z")
Oops. I missed that the OP actually specified the year. ---
**Author:** ![Derc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dfb087/32.png) [@Derc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derc)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2013, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-uk-country-is-this-coin-from/654064/26 "2013-03-28T20:04:27Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > They have changed recently, however - the latest edition of the 5p coin bears the central portion of the Royal Shield (the coins are arranged in a sort of jigsaw puzzle, [thusly](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a8/New_British_Coinage_2008.jpg)) > > ETA: therefore, the OP’s coin was minted sometime between 1990 and 2008 I noticed the Welsh dragon is missing from the jigsaw, how strange. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2013, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-uk-country-is-this-coin-from/654064/27 "2013-03-28T21:58:00Z")
> [@Derc](#): > > I noticed the Welsh dragon is missing from the jigsaw, how strange. It’s also missing from the Union flag - I believe this is because when these things were created, Wales was regarded as a principality, not a distinct country. ---
**Author:** ![Malden\_Capell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malden_capell/32/5274_2.png) [@Malden\_Capell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malden_Capell)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2013, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-uk-country-is-this-coin-from/654064/28 "2013-03-28T23:52:19Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Well, she’s still the Monarch of the Isle of Man. Not monarch - she’s Lord of Mann. ---
**Author:** ![Derc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dfb087/32.png) [@Derc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derc)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-uk-country-is-this-coin-from/654064/29 "2013-03-29T16:13:52Z")
Quite right Mangetout, seems it was annexed in 1282 and was part of England, our next in line to the throne being Charley, prince of Wales. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-uk-country-is-this-coin-from/654064/30 "2013-04-01T20:41:00Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > 5p coins only show the Scottish crowned thistle now (officially the ‘Badge of Scotland’). The 2p coin shows the Prince of Wales’ feathers and the 20p the Tudor rose, emblematic of England. The other coins all show some kind of British heraldry (portcullis, lion, Britannia). The design of the £1 coin changes frequently to reflect events on given years of issue. > > [Pic of all the coins](http://0.tqn.com/d/coins/1/0/i/1/-/-/great-britain-coins-money.jpg) The coin I asked about is third from the left in that link. It was dated 1990, I think the queen has a little less chin but otherwise it’s spot on. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-uk-country-is-this-coin-from/654064/31 "2013-04-02T12:57:49Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > The coin I asked about is third from the left in that link. It was dated 1990, I think the queen has a little less chin but otherwise it’s spot on. Yes, the portrait of the queen changed in 1998 to the older, jowlier version. Your one will have [this portrait](http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3030/2549658347_0edc5cf73f_z.jpg?zz=1). I don’t know why the UK doesn’t see the need to put its country name on coins. With stamps we get a pass because the UK was the first country to issue them, so it never had to include the name at the beginning. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-uk-country-is-this-coin-from/654064.md?page=1)