The News For Those Who Are No Longer Looking
An increasing number of my acquaintances no longer follow the news in mainstream media, for whatever reason, avoiding all the bad news but simultaneously missing the good. So I thought I'd perform a public service by blogging about something all the mainstream media collectively covered last week but you might have totally missed.
The Royal Mint has today unveiled eight new designs that are set to appear on UK coins from the 1p to the £2 coin. All eight coin designs have been approved by The King and reflect his passion for conservation and the natural world. The designs are expected to enter circulation from the end of 2023.
Well they're lovely aren't they? Apparently the Royal Mint usually changes the complete set of definitive coins after a new monarch comes to the throne, it just hasn't happened for over 70 years. The new set depicts UK flora and fauna, from the endangered to the mildly threatened, and comes with an approved portrait of the King on the other side.
1p hazel dormouse 2p red squirrel
5p oak leaves 10p capercaillie 20p puffin 50p Atlantic salmon
£1 bees £2 national flowers
The tiny dormouse appears on the tiny 1p coin, so that's clever. You might ask "How do I know if it's a red squirrel or a grey squirrel on the 2p?", but the decision to put it on a bronze coin answers that brilliantly. On the 5p the oak was the only national tree the Mint could reasonably have considered. The capercaillie on the 10p is the world's largest grouse and is only found in a small part of Scotland, in case you were wondering. I suspect it was a toss-up between a robin and a puffin for the 20p and the more recognisable silhouette won. Putting a fish on the 50p means it's now the perfect coin to flip for heads or tails! I love the two bees on the £1 coin, although each is presumably worth only 50p. And the national flowers on the £2 are a concept first introduced when the pound coin went 12-sided in 2017.
When the last new set was introduced in 2008, the clever set whose designs collectively form a heraldic shield, I hunted for them in my small change and set aside the first coin of each denomination I received. I shall be doing the same again this time, smiling at each fresh acquisition until I have the full menagerie in my pocket. If you've given up on cash because you think it's an endangered species, maybe this time you'll be missing out.
