When will I find an A to Z 10p in my change?
The Royal Mint announced Britain’s new A to Z of Britain 10p coins to the public in March this year and since then they have created quite a stir in the world of coin collecting…
Thousands of collectors flocked to buy them, crashing the Mint’s website and emptying stocks at the Royal Mint Experience.
At the same time Change Checkers have been asking the question “when will I find an A to Z 10p in my change?”
So let’s take a proper look at the situation.
The Royal Mint does not actually control coins going into circulation.
I know this might sound a little hard to believe but The Royal Mint does not actually have any real control over how and when coins go into circulation. This is essentially managed between HM Treasury and the large cash distribution services run by the Post Office and some banks, as well as private operators. Between them they handle, sort and distribute the billions of coins in circulation, even swapping stocks between themselves.
It’s only when they are short of a particular denomination that they call off stocks from The Royal Mint, who act as the manufacturer of the coin on behalf of the Treasury.
In short, The Royal Mint can only push the new 10p coins into circulation as and when there is demand from these cash distribution centres.
Early release of 2.6 million coins
All circulation designs do eventually make their way into circulation and in time into our pockets. However, it has been the case since commemorative 50p coins started to issue more regularly from the 1990s that, for the reasons explained above, it can be some months until cash centres call off new supplies. Indeed, it is not that unusual that the coins do not enter circulation until the following year.
With this in mind, The Royal Mint worked closely with the cash handling industry to introduce a small quantity of 10ps into circulation which were issued through the Post Office network.
Don’t forget that 2.6 million coins is an initial early release – it is not the total quantity of coins that will ever circulate at face value. The expectation is that more 10p coins will enter circulation when required by the cash centres.
In addition, The Royal Mint also has plans for limited releases of coins at face value in appropriate locations across the UK during the rest of the year. Don’t worry – we’ll keep you up to date with all the news.
Additional 2.6 coins released
In October 2018, The Royal Mint and HM Treasury confirmed that a further 2.6 million A-Z 10p coins would enter circulation and this time the coins would be distributed through more normal networks including banks and cash distribution centres.
This will be welcome news to collectors who have been struggling to lay their hands on the new 10ps since the initial release in March. We’re hopeful that additional volumes will continue to be struck in line with UK requirements and of course the massive collector demand.
So how can I collect my 10p coins for face value?
Well first off, it’s fair to say you’ll probably need a degree of patience. Don’t forget commemorative coins do not normally enter circulation particularly quickly and there’s no doubt that the first tranche of coins have been snapped up extra fast by keen collectors (and possibly even some Post Office staff).
Royal Mint estimates from 2016 suggest that there are 1.7 billion 10p coins in circulation. The expected annual demand for 10p coins is approximately 60 million per annum.
It’s also clear that the demand for coins amongst the cash centres is currently relatively low. It’s believed that many people cashed in additional denominations at the same time as their old £1 coins, helping to increase stocks, as well as the increased use of cashless payments having an impact.
So, it’s practically impossible to say how many 10p coins will enter circulation this year. However, whilst we almost certainly won’t see distribution in the hundreds of millions, Change Checkers should remain hopeful of more opportunities to collect the A to Z of Britain 10p coins straight from their change throughout this year and maybe even into next.
Conclusion
Yes, finding an A to Z 10p in your change is a pretty tough ask at the moment but the situation will improve over time.
Will they be rare? Certainly their level of popularity with collectors has been unprecedented and so it seems likely they’ll always be a tough coin to find and, at 10p each, I’ll definitely be putting any I find aside!
Get ahead of the crowd by owning the complete A-Z ‘Early Strike’ 10p Set TODAY!
Are HMRC monitoring how much profit people are making by selling these coins and is it being declared?
Has anyone asked the Post Office or Banks whether it is within the contracts of their staff to make a profit from selling these coins on EBAY
I bought the Collectors Album for the A to Z 10p’s as soon as it was available expecting to fill it in a couple of months. So far it’s been a complete waste of approximately £25 as I haven’t seen a single one and have been quite blatantly told by both my local Post Office branches and Santander staff that they will never be making them available to the public as the Staff will be keeping them all ! I wish it wasn’t too late to send the collectors album back and get a refund.
I am collecting in NI and there is a complete lack of any new coins. I have only found a few Beatrice Potter 2016 coins and no 2017 or 2018 coins. I agree there are lots of A to Z 10ps available on eBay if you are willing to pay but it will be a long time before there are in circulation here.
I have found the letter G ten pence and the letter D too which I’ve kept them both a side and I got them from change
Since the issue of the Olympic games set the Great British Coin Hunt took force, but it now seems that it has created a monster for new collecter’s to obtain full sets unless they are willing to pay excessive money, all coins should be circulated in change as soon as possible and not sold in bulk to big companies, I have a large collection of coins with lots of doubles but not one new 10p yet, I will not pay the excessive prices being asked, but hope to obtain them over time.
I don’t agree with people selling these coins for more than their value. My daughter collects some coins and we have not seen one of the new 10p coins. We have not seen any of the new Beatrice Potter ones either.
I am as mad as hell at the Royal mint like most other collectors and people who just want the odd coin/s for
the way the mint handles their distrabutions but it’s all done for them to maximise their proffits, nearly half way into 2018 and we are still waiting for the 2017 in our change and some of the 2018 coins are already out, but they will keep doing this untill we stop falling for the RARE trap, YOU and I included, don’t quote me but around 95% of the coins in our collections are only worth a bit more than we have paid for them and NOT what some fools will pay for them MY SELF incuded but I have only paid a premium when it’s the last coin in the set that I am looking for or I know it is or will be rare. BUT I have to admit I too have been falling into the trap
As I have said before only collect coins because you like them or you want to complete a date run I E the old way make it fun NOT proffit, the proffit if it is there will come free.
Good luck
Les.
I have visited 6 post offices in and around the Derby area. Only one (my local) had some and allowed me to buy two unopened bags. To my surprise I got a total of 15 new coins across the two bags, but this consisted of 10 Z coins and 5 Q coins ! Thankfully I have now managed to swap these via the Swap Centre.
Of the other 5 Post Offices that I visited, each one confirmed that they were collecting them and had none left. One person even seemed proud when she told me that not one the the new coins she had received had been put into circulation, instead it went straight to her husband. No doubt for eBay. It’s simple the PO staff are taking the majority of them. Is this wrong, not sure. Would I do the same if in their position………
simple solution .don’t buy them from greedy ***** on ebay.that will stop them.after all they are only 10p’s.
why pay a fortune for them .if you stop these crooks then they will become available freely in our change.if people keep buying them of ebay they will keep making a profit out of you.
The ‘wrong’ bit is the Royal Mint releasing them in tiny quantities and at the same time creating a huge media hype about how collectable they may be plus at the same time releasing large quantities to companies whose customers are collectors to enable that company to also have large quantities of the coins for swap-meets etc thus adding importance and value to these coins as well as collectability.
None found in Dundee Scotland. Looks like the album was a waste of money 🙁
I’m pretty sure I’ll come across some of these and be happy to hand them to customers in there change. I’ve done it with plenty of Beatrix potter, a few Isaac Newton and Olympic games 50p’s.
I work in a bank but have not come across a single one. When staff ‘help themselves’ they do actually pay for them so it’s not like stealing but we don’t sell them on, they are just kept for our own collections. We also have customers come in asking for certain coins and we hold on to them in little bags in case they go back off to cash centres and give them out if they are requested. I found a second Isaac newton a few weeks ago. Sadly I only have one 10p L
Someone should start a petition about this. Not me, sorry, as I’m not a collector, even tho I’ve saved a couple of Peter Rabbit 50p coins.
I bought an album to fill and give to my Granddaughter, I haven’t got one yet ?
any post office staff found to be profiting by taking coins and reselling should be dismissed for gross misconduct , they are supposed to be trustworthy aren’t they ???
If I was someone working for the Royal Mint or someone working for a company in close collaboration with the Royal Mint I think I would be deeply concerned and troubled at the comments left here by some of the nation’s coin collectors.
My local shopkeeper has only found 1 new 10p, I tried my bank and they do not have them, I am still waiting to find any. I also have purchased a folder for the set of 10p’s which i should of waited to order until I had at least a few of them. I also have not seen any Sir Isaac Newton 50p’s in circulation. Oh well I shall keep on looking
I’ve been lucky to get 3 so far
Hi, if you are still looking for Isaac Newton 50p I have one to swop, if you have any 50p to swop leg me know
ir you ever feel the need to become cynical just look at how the interest in coin collecting has allowed lots of unscrupulous shark to cash in. this is where my coin collecting stops.
Hi Luke
I am in Surrey and haven’t seen any circulated A-Z 10P, but I’m not surprised as still haven’t seen any circulated Beatrix Potter or Sir Isaac Newton 50p all released in 2017. Or so we were told.
If the coins only enter circulation when there is demand from the cash distribution centres (Banks and PO) how does Change Checker get hold of stock for there live events like the Lucky Dip event in Leicester this Saturday?
It can be quite demoralising to here that some people have over half the A-Z 10p coins when you haven’t seen a single one. Oh well, looks like the A-Z albums I bought at a recent visit to the Royal Mint will be staying empty for some time, not that The Royal Mint gift shop will mind.
Here’s hoping for a sight of any of the commemorative coins I’ve mentioned and that this is not all just a lot of hype by the collector organisations!!
I work in banking and we haven’t seen any of the 10ps or last release of Beatrix potter, it’s hell going through every single bag and being told off by management!
If post office or bank staff are taking commemorative 10ps , 50ps or £2s for themselves before they have had a chance to reach general circulation there could be criminal offences irrespective of whether they replace them with coins of the same face value. Going on to sell them on eBay for a tidy profit would make this even worse.
Are you right not fair cheers
Surely staff at Post Offices, Banks should not be able to help themselves when they come across them in their till?
Yes. I went to my local post office at 3.45pm the day after release to be told that the woman handling these had gone to lunch with the keys to the supply. The next day l went back at 09.00 to be told that tbey had not received any coins, despite being on the list of post offices receiving a supply. I smell a rotten fish
I found 2 B & J last week BHsrn9
That’s no fair that many people selling new 10p on eBay and I think those are people who work in post offices while public people just waiting.
They use their job and make business by selling coins. Why do we have to pay 40-50 pounds for a full set online if we could find them in circulation or for change somewhere.
It is difficult to sort it down but this is just not fair in order to collectors.
i ordered a set from Royal Mint @ £52 when they came the quality was awful they looked like they had been in a pocket for 6 months certainly not worth the premium price of £2 each sent back immediately
The simple solution is to go into the post office industry but as other readers said, even they are still struggling.
Only selected Post offices are selling them. There is none for sale in their online store. If they are selling them privately then surely this is all a con. We are all drawn in by the Mint telling us to look out for these coins and others, then sell albums with the message to collect them in your change but it seems almost impossible to actually find any in your change because people working in the handling business and those who are quick to put multiple ads on Ebay are making a mint (pardon the pun) out of it while us collectors get ripped of, left-right-and centre trying to get our albums filled !
Is anybody struggling to find these as i have a fair quantity
I don’t have any! But are you selling at face value?
Ben are you willing to sell some to us poor people with Grandchildren who cannot find any ? Ray
Hi,
What coins do you have? im struggling to find any!!!could you email which coins yo have and what you are
charging for them
Thank you
Frances
We haven’t seen any in our part of Essex. I would be happy to just see one, but I did buy an album fir £9.90 to collect them so hope to get some otherwise I have wasted my £9.90. My 83 year old Mum also has an empty album. If you have any to spare that would be lovely.
Hi Ben are you selling at face value .
Hi
I can’t find them any where !!
I would be happy for any of your swaps … but swap with what
Let me know what we can sort out thanks
Why can’t the Mint sell standard circulation coins to collectors at face value plus handling charge (say 10%) and postage instead of the ludicrous price they, ebay and Westminster charge for “uncirculated ” and early pressings?
simple answer it’s just another tax on the people at least Dick Turpin wore a mask when he was robbing the public it should be illegal for the Royal Mint to profit from their coins
Hello all I am not happy we can’t wait look for nothing so bank and post office and shops keep self not fair other people wait for it . ☹️☹️☹️☹️ About new 10 pence not fair ☹️☹️☹️☹️
Judging by what you say above it can’t be impossible for there to be release expectations of the commemorative coins. Lack of release is spoiling the collectability of coins plus pre-selling uncirculated 10p’s at twenty times the face value when BUNC 50p’s are sold at about four times face value doesn’t help, I don’t think.
Yes I agree. There must be thousands being sold on e-bay.
that’s true..i own a shop and.used to see collectable coins everyday but all are scarce now .you have no chance of getting a full set of 10p’s unless you buy the complete set for £55 from royal mint.
Currently I have 14/26 in one album 9/26 in another as well as 5 spare U’s, 2 N’s 1 X and 1 I.
Are you selling any?
Just seems like another excuse, genuine collectors of coins that can not afford to buy these sets that are so called sent out to own, yet companies like Change checker can get a sufficient quantity to offer an exchange at Leicester. Preferential service I think, and if employees of the post office are selling sets surely is this not illegal, it’s profiteering to the highest degree. Anything to make it an excuse for people to profit from the release of new coins. I have several sets that are incomplete because I am missing 1 or 2 coins that were released but never seemed to circulate around here. I have some friends in a couple of local shops and they have checked for me and they too have never seen some of these coins. Makes me wonder if it is worth collecting them now…
Hi Michelle I’m from up north just outside newcastle and ive not come across any new 10p, hope I do though, good luck to you finding any ,,, Brian
Just annoyed i splashed out on 4 albums
I went to the post office and asked the lady over there. She said, if you want then buy the individual packs. They have the stock but not letting in circulation. Sad.
All very well to talk about the new 10p coins but what about the 50p coins of Jeremy Fisher, Benjamin Bunny and Tom Kitten. It’s been months since thier release and there’s been not a sniff of one here in Wales. I have contacts in banks and post offices and shops and no one has seen these coins.
I have found a H and a W so far.
All post office staff are grabbing all A-Z 10p,s and selling online,when you do ask in the post office they say they no longer give change you need to use your own bank,it’s a joke ?
I agree with you Michelle, you often see on Ebay whole money bags of a new coin being offered, I visited my local bank and asked if they had any new 10p’s and they said they do not have any.
So how come people that work in post offices banks up North are selling the whole sets online . No chance to find any coins in your change like we used to .
I was the first in my town to ask for a couple of bags from the post office. After the three bags I took out the next time I went the staff at the change desk was opening all the bags and looking for them themselves.
First of all Royal Mint artificially created “the great British” fuss about these coins trying to sell as many as they can (£2 for 10p is not bad, is it). And then Post office workers making their own dodgy business and not allowing collectors to get the coins for their face value. Rather disgusting. What we all could do is wait for the coins from change and NOT BUY THEM! These coins are hardly an investment – it’s a fun hunt remember this, and buying spoils the fun.
I compleatly agree, the fun of it is finding them in your change, im a coin collector and never bought a coin yet, you wont finish your collection the same year they are released but you will eventually, and its more fun that way ?im from a litle town called wigan, i have 12 out of the 26 a-z and all have been in change from local shops, i do make a point of only colecting 1 of each coin, i have had 2 of some and spent them back into circulation giving others the joy of joining the fun hunt, my collection of 50p and £2 coins it almost complete, just waiting for the last few to cross my palm, meaning im still enjoying the fun ?
OK then why oh why do you rake in lots of money by selling collectors albums knowing full well that there is very little chance of obtaining any coins to fit into the album ?????. I purchased 2 folders for my Grandchildren who are so disappointed when I say ‘sorry no coins this week’ repeatedly , A severe case of overpromising and under delivering !!