The British Royal Mint put into circulation the first three million one-pound coins with the portrait of King Charles III. The Mint has issued various commemorative series before, but these coins are from the so-called definitive series, which will be in circulation for years or even decades. The reverse features bees to emphasise the need for conservation, the BBC news website reported today.
The commemorative series of coins
Some 2,975,000 one-pound coins were delivered to post offices and banks across Britain this week, the mint in Llantrisant, south Wales, said today. The mint has been responsible for minting British currency since the days of Alfred the Great, who ruled England in the late 9th century during its defence against the Vikings.
Coins ranging from one penny to two pounds are decorated with eight different motifs of British flora and fauna. The bees, which will be on the one-pound coin, won the vote for the most beautiful design. In second place were red squirrels, which will adorn the two-penny coin, the Mint said.
Coin decoration
The ruffed grouse, hazel dormouse, puffin, salmon and Britain’s national plants were also depicted. The two-pound coin is jointly decorated with the English rose, the Welsh daffodil, the thistle for Scotland and the shamrock for Northern Ireland. The depictions of plants and animals are overseen by Britain’s specialist botanical and zoological societies.
The size and shape of the coins remain the same as the existing ones with the late Queen Elizabeth II, which continue to circulate. Maintaining the size is crucial because of the increasingly widespread use of the coins in vending machines, convenience stores and parking meters. What has changed, however, is the size of the numbers identifying the value of the coin to make them easier to read and to enable children to better understand numbers and basic finance.
The last time definitive coins went into circulation was in 2008, they feature Elizabeth II. Older coins will long outnumber those with Charles III, according to the BBC, as there are about 29 billion Elizabethan ones in circulation.
source: ČTK
