Twenty Pence.

The smallest silver coin issued by the Royal Mint is the 1/10th Britannia, containing one tenth of an ounce of pure silver. Under the late Queen Elizabeth II, they only issued it once in uncirculated condition and that was in 2006. They have just released the first ever 1/10th Britannia for King Charles III dated 2024. This coin has a nominal face value of 20 Pence and they are in Prooflike Uncirculated condition. The last lot we had sold out very quickly but the rise in the cost of silver has meant that we had to increase our price slightly.

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.