Believe it or not, coins still exist. Yep, those shiny circular things the tooth fairy used to leave under your pillow are still legal tender and a brand new one has just been released in honour of King Charles III.
Considering the monarch took to the throne back in 2022, it’s been quite the process getting these coins out, but The Royal Mint announced the new £1 tender will officially enter circulation this week. It comes after brand-new Kings Charles III banknotes were released earlier this summer.
Inspired by the King’s love of all things nature, the new design features a pair of bees on the reverse side of the coin, representing the 250 species that exist in Britain, and Charles’ face on the front (obvs).
The Royal Mint has been responsible for creating new coins for Britain’s monarchs since Alfred the Great, who was around way back in 848 AD, and while you definitely can’t use one of those medieval coins to grab a trolley at Tesco, you can still use cash with Queen Elizabeth II’s face on it.
There are a whopping 29 billion coins in circulation in the UK, and only three million of the new £1 ones have been issued to post offices and banks across the country, so keep an out for those bees.
Made with support from the Royal Horticultural Society and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the rest of the King’s collection of coins features flora and fauna found across the UK. From the red squirrel to puffins, daffodils and shamrocks, the remaining coins are expected to enter circulation throughout the next year. These are all the new coin designs:
- 1p: Hazel dormouse
- 2p: Red squirrel
- 5p: Oak tree leaf
- 10p: Capercaillie
- 20p: Puffin
- 50p: Atlantic salmon
- £2: National flowers (rose, daffodil, thistle and shamrock)
- What's new in the UK?
Not all fauna is as friendly as a dormouse, just take a look at these rat size spiders invading the UK. And if all this talk of coins has you in the mood to go hunting for some treasure, this Cornwall museum is full of shipwreck memorabilia.
Did you see that this forgotten English town is getting a massive £500 million glow-up?
Plus: This world famous artists is taking over Liverpool Cathedral.
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