-five pence||Queen Elizabeth II||No standard reverse design||38.61 mm||2.89 mm||28.28 g||Cupronickel||Milled, with variable inscription||1972 (commemorative, not in general circulation)|
|Fifty pence*||Queen Elizabeth II||Segment of the Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom||27.3 mm||1.78 mm||8 g||Cupronickel (75:25)||Smooth, Reuleaux heptagon||1997|
|One pound||Queen Elizabeth II||Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom||22.5 mm||3.15 mm||9.5 g||Nickel-brass||Milled with variable inscription and/or decoration||1983|
|Two pounds†||Queen Elizabeth II||Design by Bruce Rushin||28.4 mm||2.5 mm||12 g||Inner: Cupronickel
|Milled with variable inscription and/or decoration||1997 (issued 1998)|
|Five pounds||Queen Elizabeth II||No standard reverse design||38.61 mm||2.89 mm||28.28 g||Cupronickel||Milled, with variable inscription||1990 (commemorative, not in general circulation)|
|Twenty pounds||Queen Elizabeth II||No standard reverse design||Silver||Milled||2013 (commemorative, not in general circulation)|
|One Hundred Pounds||Queen Elizabeth II||Tower of Westminster 'Big Ben'||Silver||Milled||2015 (commemorative, not in general circulation)|
* The specifications and dates of introduction of the 5p, 10p and 50p coins refer to the current versions. These coins were originally issued in larger sizes in 1968 and 1969 respectively.
†The specification and date of introduction of the £2 coin refers to the current version. This coin was originally issued in a smaller size in a single metal in 1986 for special issues only.
With their high copper content (97%), the intrinsic value of pre-1992 1p and 2p coins increased with the surge in metal prices of the mid-2000s, until by 2006 the coins, would, if melted down, have been worth about 50% more than their face value. (To do this, however, would be illegal, and they would have had to be melted in huge quantities to achieve significant gain.) In subsequent years the price of copper fell considerably from these peaks.
All modern British coins feature a profile of the current monarch's head on the obverse. There has been only one monarch since decimalisation, Queen Elizabeth II, so her head appears on all decimal coins, facing to the right (see also Monarch's head, above). However, five different effigies have been used, reflecting the Queen's changing appearance as she has aged. These are the effigies by Mary Gillick (until 1968), Arnold Machin (1968–1984), Raphael Maklouf (1985–1997), Ian Rank-Broadley (1998–2015), and Jody Clark (from 2015).
All current coins carry a Latin inscription whose full form is ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA FIDEI DEFENSOR, meaning "Elizabeth II, by the grace of God, Queen and Defender of the Faith". The inscription appears on the coins in any of several abbreviated forms, typically ELIZABETH II D G REG F D.
From 2008 the circle of dots between the lettering and the rim was removed from the 1p, 2p, 5, and 10p and £1. It was never on the 20p and 50p, and is retained on the £2.
Original reverse designs
The original standard-issue decimal coinage reverse designs are as follows:
- ½p (discontinued 1984) — A crown, symbolising the monarch.
- 1p – A crowned portcullis with chains (the badge of the Houses of Parliament).
- 2p – The Prince of Wales's feathers: a plume of ostrich feathers within a coronet.
- 5p – A crowned thistle, formally "The Badge of Scotland, a thistle royally crowned".
- 10p – A crowned lion, part of the British Coat of Arms (and often is the national animal of the UK)
- 20p – A crowned Tudor Rose, a traditional heraldic emblem of England (NB With incuse design and lettering).
- 50p — Britannia and lion.
- £1 – Numerous different designs (see below).
- £2 – An abstract design of concentric circles, representing technological development from the Iron Age to the modern day electronic age.
Up until the 2008 redesign, the reverse designs of the one pound coin have followed a five-year cycle. This cycle successively represents, by using royal heraldic badges, each of the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom, namely Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland a