The British Royal Mint has issued the first £1 coins featuring King Charles III. Over the course of the week, a little under 3 million pieces will be put into circulation and collectors are already on the lookout for the new coins.
This week, exactly 2,975 million £1 coins are being issued to banks and post offices. The £1 coins with the effigy of the late Queen Elizabeth II will continue to be kept in circulation. Only gradually, when the old coins become too damaged or worn, will they be put out of action.
“The Royal Mint has made the circulating coinage of each of Britain’s monarchs since Alfred the Great and it is an honour to reveal that King Charles III’s £1 coin is now in circulation. We know there’ll be a buzz of excitement amongst collectors and the public to get this special piece of history in their change. We hope the designs across all denominations spark important conversations about the conservation of these important species”, Rebecca Morgan, director of commemorative coin at The Royal Mint, commented.
The new £1 coins don’t just feature the official effigy of the King, they also picture a pair of British bees. Those are a symbol of the monarch’s passion for conservation and the natural world. Another change that was made with the new release is the enlargement of the number indicating the value of the coin, in order to make it easier for children to learn how to count.
The £1 coins are one of eight new ‘definitive’ designs issued during the reign of King Charles. The other, yet to be released, coins are the 1 pence featuring a hazel dormouse, the 2 pence red squirrel, the 5 pence oak tree leaf, the 10 pence capercaillie grouse, the 20 pence puffin and the £2 with the British national flowers (a rose, daffodil, thistle and shamrock). All illustrations were made with the support of the Royal Horticultural Society and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. The other designs will be struck and released following demand but their design has already been known since last October.
A historic moment of change.
— The Royal Mint (@RoyalMintUK) October 24, 2023
The first definitive coins of His Majesty King Charles III’s reign and the last definitive coins of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign 👉 https://t.co/DcmpTSXu6r pic.twitter.com/mC9Et8mube
Earlier this year, in June, banknotes with Charles’s portrait were already rolled out. That event was particularly special given the fact that it was the first time for the sovereign on the Bank of England’s notes to be changed.
