UK coins

Each year, one of the biggest numismatic updates comes when the latest mintage figures are announced, and The Royal Mint have just revealed the mintages of all coins that entered circulation in 2023! Every year, when this information is released, we update our Change Checker Mintage charts to see where new circulating coins rank.

Excitingly, in 2023 we saw the very first King Charles III definitive coins start to enter circulation, kicking off with the Atlantic Salmon 50p, which knocked the Kew Gardens 50p off the top spot as Britain’s new rarest 50p!

But the Salmon 50p wasn’t the only new coin that entered our change last year…

---

50p Mintage Figures

It’s the 2023 Salmon 50p that’s been hitting the headlines due to its incredibly low mintage of just 200,000, making it even rarer than the Kew Gardens 50p which has now been bumped down to 2nd place on our mintage chart.

The Salmon 50p wasn’t the only new 50p to enter circulation in 2023, as the Coronation 50p also made it’s way into our change.

On 10th August 2023, 5 million King Charles III Coronation 50ps entered circulation and we opened our collector map to find out where in the country they were popping up.

From the map data, we put together a list of the Top 5 places where you’re most likely to find a Coronation 50p in your change, and Birmingham came out on top with 5.1% of Coronation 50ps being found there! You can check out where else they were being found here >>

---

£2 Mintage Figures

Since 2016, no new commemorative £2 coins have entered circulation, and in 2023, there were also no new definitive £2s put into circulation.

The only denominations from the New UK Coinage featuring King Charles III that haven’t yet entered circulation are the Flowers of the Four Nations £2 and the Red Squirrel 2p, so the circulating £2 coin drought continues!

As nothing has changed on the £2 mintage figure chart this year, the 2002 Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games £2 remains the rarest £2 coin in circulation, with a mintage of just 485,000.

---

2023 Definitives

Usually, the mintage figures for definitive coins are somewhat less exciting than the commemorative coins entering circulation, as the designs have remained the same for the last 16 years. However, the 2023 mintages are particularly interesting as they confirm how many of the very first King Charles III definitive coins entered circulation!

Although we’ve already spoken about the Salmon 50p and its shockingly low mintage, we’ll still include it here as it is technically a definitive coin design.

• Hazel Dormouse 1p: 600,000
• Red Squirrel 2p: 0
• Oak 5p: 32,400,000
• Capercaillie 10p: 600,000
• Puffin 20p: 525,000
• Salmon 50p: 200,000
• Bee £1: 10,030,000
• Flowers of the Nations £2: 0

Interestingly, this makes the 2023 dated 1p, 10p and 20p the rarest coins of their denominations since decimalisation (with the exception of the 2018 and 2019 A-Z 10p coins)!

Considering this, 2023 dated coins are sure to go down in history as some of the most sought after circulating coins, so keep an eye out for them in your change!

---

It’s always exciting when new mintage figures are revealed, especially when it brings an end to the previous rarest UK 50p’s 15-year reign!

Have you been lucky enough to find a 2023 Salmon 50p in your change? If you’re still searching, don’t forget you can secure the Brilliant Uncirculated version as part of the New UK Coinage set. What’s more, the coins in this set feature a special privy mark which sets them aside from the ones you’ll find in your change.

Secure your New UK Coinage Set for just £32.50 (+p&p) >>