Anisotropic YCo5 ribbons have been obtained by melt spinning arc-cast ingots of the alloy. The surface velocity of the Cu roll was varied between 25 and 48.5 m/s. Magnetic anisotropy was observed, reflecting crystallographic texture associated with the ribbon solidification process, with the c-axis preferentially aligned parallel to the ribbon plane. The crystallographic texture is attributed to directional solidification induced by the thermal gradient. Ribbons obtained with a roll velocity of 48.5 m/s exhibited an intrinsic coercivity of 7.8 kOe, a high Mr=Ms ratio of 0.75 and a (BH)max = 7:11MGOe at room temperature. The high coercivity is attributed to the high anisotropy field of the YCo5 phase and to its nanoscale grain size.