First King Charles III Definitive Coins enter circulation – 2023 Mintage Figures announced!
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.
Britain has a new RAREST 50p! Could it be in your pocket?
Hold on to your wallets, Britain! There’s a NEW rarest 50p in circulation, and it’s just knocked the legendary Kew Gardens 50p off the top spot – for the FIRST TIME in 15 years!
Introducing the Salmon 50p, and you won’t believe how scarce it is. Only a jaw-dropping 200,000 of these coins were released into circulation in November 2023. That means just ONE in 335 people in the UK could have the chance of snagging one. Is it sitting in your pocket right now?
Something fishy is going on…
Collectors are in a frenzy, desperately scouring their change to get their hands on this rare beauty before it’s too late. And some lucky few have already struck gold, listing their Salmon 50p coins on eBay for as much as £23 to £50. That’s more than 50 TIMES its face value!
But hold on tight – with this latest shocking revelation, those prices are expected to skyrocket!
*UPDATE*
Since the news broke this morning, the price of Salmon 50ps on the secondary market have soared, with some selling for nearly £150!
Rarer than the Kew Gardens 50p
If you thought the Kew Gardens 50p was the ultimate collector’s item with only 210,000 in circulation, think again! That coin, regularly fetching £150 to £250 on the secondary market, has even hit the dizzying heights of £1,000 in listings! The new Salmon 50p is hot on its tail, and it could be worth even more in the months to come.
And here’s the best part – You could have one in your change right now!
While the Kew Gardens 50p has had 15 years for collectors to squirrel it away, the Salmon 50p is fresh out of the water – meaning this could be your best chance to snap up the UK’s new rarest coin. Imagine if you had grabbed a Kew Gardens 50p back in 2009, knowing how prized it would become… Now, the Salmon 50p offers you a second chance at coin-collecting glory!
The race is on!
With a mintage of just 200,000, this new king of coins firmly takes the throne, leaving the Kew Gardens 50p in the dust.
The race is truly on to track one down, will you be one of the lucky collectors to find the new ‘holy grail’ of change collecting before its too late? Best of luck everyone, and happy hunting!
Secure the collector’s edition
If you haven’t been lucky enough to find a Salmon 50p in the wild, don’t worry! You can still secure the Brilliant Uncirculated version for your collection, alongside SEVEN other new King Charles III coins in the New UK Coinage Set.
What’s more, the coins in this set feature a special privy mark on the obverse, setting them apart from the ones you’ll find in your change.
Could this Bee a new error £1 coin?
2.975 million King Charles III Bee £1 coins entered circulation in August 2024. Since then, the race has been on to track down these new coins creating a buzz in the collecting world!
Many collectors have already been lucky enough to come across the Bee £1, but perhaps none so lucky as Diane Bath, who spotted a rare error on one of the coins…
Diane runs The Post Office in Broughton-in-Furness, Cumbria, where she found a King Charles III Bee £1 struck in entirely one colour!
The image below shows the single metal coin, without the silver-coloured inner piece seen on standard United Kingdom £1 coins:
£1 coins are struck from a nickel-brass outer ring and an inner piece made from a nickel-plated brass alloy. It’s possible that this error coin was created due to the inner section not being punched out of the nickel-brass before the coin was struck. For confirmation of this, we’d suggest sending the error coin to The Royal Mint for verification.
Diane, a postmistress of over 20 years, told the press: “I am absolutely over the moon. Obviously we handle cash all the time and it’s the most exciting find I’ve ever had in over two decades.”
The coin is being auctioned on the 18th October by Ryedale Auctioneers, with an estimate of £500-£800.
A similar error occurred when the first 12-sided £1 coins were released back in 2017, although only a small handful of these error coins were ever found. Reportedly, one such error coin sold for over £2,000 at auction!
As for this new King Charles III Bee £1 error, it will be very interesting indeed to see how much it goes for at auction. Ultimately, this depends on how much a collector is willing to pay to get their hands on this rare error coin.
Remember, if you’re looking to secure an error coin on the secondary market, always do your research and be aware of fakes before you buy.
Have you spotted any errors on the new King Charles III coinage? Let us know in the comments below!
Secure the Complete Set of New UK Coinage!
Whilst the Bee £1 and Salmon 50p can now be found in your change, it could be years until all 8 coins can readily be found in circulation…
So don’t miss out! Own the complete set now, with each coin including a special privy mark to set them apart from the coins in your change!
Secure the complete collection for just £32.50 + (p&p) here >>
