ted that "the Shield of the Royal Arms is symbolic of the whole of the United Kingdom and as such, represents Wales, Scotland, England and Northern Ireland." Designer Dent stated "I am a Welshman and proud of it, but I never thought about the fact we did not have a dragon or another representation of Wales on the design because as far as I am concerned Wales is represented on the Royal Arms. This was never an issue for me."
The designs were also criticised for not including a portrayal of Britannia, the female personification of Britain whose image has appeared on British coinage continuously since 1672. In response to the concern over the loss of Britannia, the chairman of the Royal Mint Advisory Committee stated "There are 806 million Britannias in circulation at the moment [on the old 50p coin]. They will remain in circulation. They will see all of us out, until they die a natural death. So whatever happens, Britannia stays around".
The Royal Mint's choice of an inexperienced coin designer to produce the new coinage was criticised by Virginia Ironside, daughter of Christopher Ironside who designed the previous UK coins. She stated that the new designs were "totally unworkable as actual coins", due to the loss of a numerical currency identifier, and the smaller typeface used.
Steel 5p and 10p coins
As of 2012, 5p and 10p coins have been issued in nickel-plated steel, and much of the remaining cupro-nickel types withdrawn, in order to retrieve more expensive metals. The new coins are 11% thicker to maintain the same weight.
There are heightened nickel allergy concerns over the new coins. Studies commissioned by the Royal Mint found no increased discharge of nickel from the coins when immersed in artificial sweat. However, an independent study found that the friction from handling results in four times as much nickel exposure as from the older-style coins. Sweden already plans to desist from using nickel in coins from 2015. 
Summary of denominations
- Half penny (½p; £0.005) 1971–1984, demonetised since then.
- One penny (1p; £0.01), 1971–present
- Two pence (2p; £0.02), 1971–present
- Five pence (5p; £0.05), 1968–1990 (reduced to present size); 1990–present
- Ten pence (10p; £0.10), 1968–1992 (reduced to present size); 1992–present
- Twenty pence (20p; £0.20), 1982–present
- Twenty-five pence or crown (25p; £0.25), 1972–1981 (special issues, not in common circulation)
- Fifty pence (50p; £0.50), 1969–1997 (reduced to present size); 1997–present
- One pound (£1.00), 1983–present
- Two pounds (£2.00), 1986–1997 (special issues); 1997–present (general issue - bimetallic)
- Five pounds or crown (£5.00), 1990–present (special issues, not in common circulation though still legal tender)
- Twenty pounds (£20.00), 2013–present (special issues, not in common circulation though still legal tender)
- One Hundred pounds (£100.00), 2015–present (special issues, not in common circulation though still legal tender)
|One penny||Queen Elizabeth II||Segment of the Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom||20.3 mm||1.52 mm (bronze)
1.65 mm (copper-plated steel)
|3.56 g||Bronze (1971 – Sept 1992)
Copper-plated steel (Sept 1992 – present)
|Two pence||Queen Elizabeth II||Segment of the Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom||25.9 mm||1.85 mm (bronze)
2.03 mm (copper-plated steel)
|7.12 g||Bronze (97% copper, 2.5% zinc, 0.5% tin) – until September 1992
Copper-plated steel – since September 1992, except in 1998 when the 2p was made in both alloys
|Five pence*||Queen Elizabeth II||Segment of the Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom||18 mm||1.7 mm (cupro-nickel)
1.89 mm (nickel-plated steel)
|3.25 g||Cupronickel (75:25) (Nickel-plated steel from Jan 2012)||Milled||1990|
|Ten pence*||Queen Elizabeth II||Segment of the Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom||24.5 mm||1.85 mm (cupro-nickel)
2.05 mm (nickel-plated steel)
|6.5 g||Cupronickel (75:25) (Nickel-plated steel from Jan 2012)||Milled||1992|
|Twenty pence||Queen Elizabeth II||Segment of the Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom||21.4 mm||1.7 mm||5 g||Cupronickel (84:16)||Smooth, Reuleaux heptagon||1982|
|Twenty