The large 5p was withdrawn from circulation at the end of 1990, replaced by a smaller version — making this proof issue coincide almost exactly with the type's final year. The downsizing was part of a broader rationalisation driven by vending machine lobbying and the practical nuisance of a coin many considered oversized relative to its value.
Raphael Maklouf's third portrait of Elizabeth II, introduced in 1985, appears on this type for the last time at this diameter.
The large 5p was withdrawn from circulation at the end of 1990, replaced by a smaller version — making this proof issue coincide almost exactly with the type's final year. The downsizing was part of a broader rationalisation driven by vending machine lobbying and the practical nuisance of a coin many considered oversized relative to its value.
Raphael Maklouf's third portrait of Elizabeth II, introduced in 1985, appears on this type for the last time at this diameter.