The Royal Mint has unveiled the first coins that bear the image of King Charles III. The set is commemorative for now, but starting on January 1st, all coins minted in the UK will have to bear the coinage of King Charles III.
The Royal Mint revealed the image that will appear on the new coins in September 2022 as part of the 2023 annual set, which will also include coins commemorating the life and work of JRR Tolkien and the 75th anniversaries of the NHS and the Windrush Generation, which will turn the same age as His Majesty himself.
The set will be available on the Royal Mint’s website from January 3rd, and all the individual coins will be made available to the public throughout the course of the year.
This is a significant milestone for the United Kingdom, as this will be the first time that King Charles’s face will grace a £2 coin; he had previously appeared on other coins as her to the throne to celebrate other milestones of his life.
While this set will only be made of commemorative coins, “regular” currency bearing King Charles III’s face will also start circulating with the new year, as all new coins and banknotes that will be produced will take the image of the new monarch.
The new money will be introduced as the old gets slowly phased out; the pieces showcasing Queen Elizabeth II are expected to be removed from public use completely between 2025 and 2026, according to economic experts.
This will be a huge change for the citizens, who are seeing their money change faces for the first time in 70 years; it will undoubtedly take some time for them to adapt.
The Royal Mint is the organism that is officially tasked with striking coins for every monarch; it has been doing so since King Alfred the Great’s reign, between 871 and 886.
Anne Jessopp, CEO of The Royal Mint, said in part: “The Royal Mint has an official duty to strike the coins of UK monarchs and has been responsible for doing so since the reign of Alfred the Great. We were the first Mint to reveal the effigy of King Charles III in September 2022, and as Deputy Master of the Mint, I am honoured to unveil the first collection of 2023 coins featuring the effigy of King Charles III as we cement our role in history with this next chapter in British coinage. […] As the official maker of UK coins, The Royal Mint has been proud to strike every single UK coin for Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for 70 years. As we enter the New Year, we will start to see one of the biggest changes to UK coins for decades take place as King Charles III’s portrait begins to appear on all new UK coins.”
The set will be available to purchase at this link https://www.royalmint.com/annual-sets/2023 starting January 3rd, with prices starting at around 50£.
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