3 Pence - Elizabeth II 2nd portrait

By 1966, the threepence was already a coin without a future. Decimal planning was well underway, and the Wilson government had confirmed the following year that full decimalization would proceed — a process that would eventually abolish the denomination entirely in 1971. Mintages in the final years of pre-decimal threepences climbed as hoarding accelerated, with the public correctly anticipating disruption.