Australia’s New King Charles III Coin Effigy Revealed!

More than a year after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, The Royal Australian Mint have officially announced the release of their first coins featuring King Charles III.

For the first time in 70 years, and after more than 15.5 billion coins were minted with the face of the late Queen, the Australian $1 coin will feature an effigy of the King.

Official Commonwealth effigy of King Charles III 
Credit: AAP
Official Commonwealth effigy of King Charles III
Credit: AAP

The King’s image

The King’s image that features on these brand new $1 coins will be the official Commonwealth effigy, available for use by all British Commonwealth countries. As with all official portraits of reigning monarchs, the new effigy has been personally approved by King Charles III.  

As with our UK coins, this new Australian $1 coin sees the monarch facing the opposite direction to his predecessor, Queen Elizabeth II.

Australian QEII Coin Effigies 
Credit: The Perth Mint
Australian QEII Coin Effigies
Credit: The Perth Mint

A major change for Australian Coinage

During her reign, six effigies of Queen Elizabeth II have featured on Australian coinage, however the latest change was only 5 years ago. From 1998 to 2018, with the exception of 2000, it was Ian Rank-Broadley’s effigy that featured on Australian coinage.

In 2018, a new effigy of the Queen by Jody Clark was approved and made it’s way onto Australian coins in 2019.

2019 Ian Rank-Broadley QEII Effigy on Australian £1

Considering that the Queen Elizabeth effigy only changed fairly recently, the introduction of King Charles III is sure to cause a huge shake up in Australian coinage.

How many will enter circulation?

The final mintage figure of the 2023 Australia $1 is yet to be confirmed, however, The Royal Australian Mint have announced that an estimated 10 million will be circulating by Christmas.  

Most Australians will never have held a circulating coin featuring a King on the obverse, so this new issue is guaranteed to attract the attention of not only collectors, but anyone who regularly uses coinage.

The $1 is the only denomination to feature His Majesty at the moment, however The Royal Australian Mint have said that the $2, $5, 10 cent, 20 cent and 50 cent coins will be released gradually next year.

When will we see the King on UK coinage?

Although we’ve already seen the King’s effigy on commemorative UK 50p, £2 and £5 coins since the Queen Elizabeth II Memoriam coin range last year, it’s just been announced that all UK coins are set to change. As the full range of circulating coins from the 1p to the £2 will not only feature the King, but are also set to receive brand new reverse designs.

As perhaps the biggest change we’ve seen to UK coinage in decades, we’re expecting a huge collecting rush for the New UK Coinage for King Charles III and can’t wait to see the new coins when they’re released. 

Keep an eye on our social media and website as we’ll be updating you as soon as we have more information on these exciting new coins. 

Demand Surges for King Charles III Coin Sets

It’s an exciting time in the collecting world, with many ‘firsts’ to look forward to as we enter a new era of King Charles III coinage.

From the first ever King Charles III portrait featuring on our coins, to the UK’s first ever Coronation 50p, there’s already been some remarkable milestones celebrated on the coins you can find in your change.

These issues will undoubtedly become increasingly sought-after in years to come. But demand for King Charles III coins is already proving to be high!

In August, the Isle of Man released the FIRST King Charles III Decimal Coin Set – including all seven of their decimal coins, which lucky islanders will be able to find in their change.

Isle of Man Manx Wildlife Set

Isle of Man Manx Wildlife Trust Coin Set

I knew these coins would be popular, but I was shocked at just how quickly we sold through our allocation… In fact, all our stocks had completely sold out in just a few days!

Popularity for the first full King Charles III coin set has certainly got us thinking about what could lie ahead for UK coins and just how high the demand might be when we start to see more King Charles coins released.

So far, the 2022 Memoriam 50p and 2023 Coronation 50p have found their way into our change and we released collector maps for both so that Change Checkers can track where across the country these coins are being found.

King Charles III Circulating 50ps

If you’re lucky enough to have found the new Coronation 50p in your change, make sure you add it to our map here >>

In the meantime, I (like many other collectors) am eagerly awaiting the chance to find more King Charles III coins in my change and build up a new collection.

For almost 70 years, our definitive and commemorative coins have featured the Queen’s portrait, but with a new era of King Charles III coinage upon us, the collecting race begins once again!


Own the Queen Elizabeth II LAST Definitive Coin Set

2022 marked the final year of Her Majesty’s reign and, as such, these 2022 dated definitives coins were the last ever to be issued with the Queen’s portrait on the obverse.

We have limited stocks available, so don’t miss the chance to secure yours for just £35 (+p&p) here >>

Coronation 50ps ENTER CIRCULATION!

On 10th August 2023, 5 million King Charles III Coronation 50ps entered circulation and we want to know where you’ve seen one! Click here to let us know and view our interactive Collector Map >>

Issued to commemorate the Coronation of King Charles III, the Coronation 50p is only the second 50p to enter circulation featuring the King on the obverse.

2023 UK King Charles III Coronation 50p
2023 UK King Charles III Coronation 50p

Uncrowned portrait

Unlike the collector version of the Coronation 50p, which features a special crowned portrait of the King on the obverse, the version entering circulation will feature the standard uncrowned portrait by Martin Jennings.

Typically, male monarchs don’t wear crowns on UK coinage, however as a special issue for the Coronation, the collector versions of the Coronation 50p and £5 both feature His Majesty wearing the Tudor Crown.

Crowned and uncrowned King Charles III portraits
Crowned and uncrowned King Charles III portraits

The circulation version of the Coronation 50p will feature the uncrowned portrait of King Charles – the same one that has appeared on all UK commemorative coins issued since the portrait was announced.

Commemorative 50p coin obverses featuring King Charles III
Commemorative UK 50p coin obverses featuring King Charles III

So, the hunt is on to find a Coronation 50p in your change with the uncrowned portrait and keep it next to your crowned collector version.

If you don’t already have the Coronation 50p in your collection, you can get yours in Brilliant Uncirculated quality here >>

The second EVER King Charles III circulating 50p

Back in December 2022, 4.9 million Queen Elizabeth II Memoriam 50ps entered circulation. As it was the first ever circulating coin to bear the King’s portrait, collectors raced to find it in their change.

2022 UK Queen Elizabeth II Memoriam 50p
2022 UK Queen Elizabeth II Memoriam 50p

We asked you to help us hunt down the first King Charles III 50p by entering your postcode into our map as soon as you found it. 113 locations were recorded on our collector map all the way from Inverness to Penzance, but it turned out the place where you’re most likely to find the first King Charles 50p in your change was Newcastle!

Have you found the Coronation 50p in your change?

We asked you to let us know where you found the Coronation 50p in your change so we could work out where you’re most likely to find one.

Submissions are now closed but you can view the collector map here to see where they’ve been popping up.

Secure the 2023 UK Certified BU Coronation 50p for your collection

Don’t miss out on securing the crowned collector version of the Coronation 50p, click here to get yours >>