Endangered species of British flora and fauna will appear on UK coins, marking an important shift from traditional heraldic decoration as the nation transitions under a new monarch.
The Royal Mint, the official maker of British coins, on Thursday unveiled eight fresh designs of coins ranging from 1p to £2, distinct but connected by the theme of nature conservation and climate change.
“What a good coin design should do, is speak to something of the era which they are from,” said Chris Barker, information and research manager at the Royal Mint Museum.
“What you are seeing here quite clearly is a reference to now — the era of climate change,” he added. The new coinage will enter circulation from 2024.
The collection signals a thematic shift for the state-owned company, which has supplied the nation’s coins since the reign of King Alfred the Great more than 1,100 years ago. The last such redesign in 2008 featured the shield of the royal arms.
Barker said heraldry “had dominated British coinage for centuries” and called the introduction of animal and plant motifs a “real watershed moment”.
Created in partnership with the Royal Horticultural Society and Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the designs feature a range of common British species at risk of extinction, including a red squirrel on the 2p coin and bees on the £1 coin.
The reverse of the 10p coin features the capercaillie, a species of grouse that is almost entirely confined to Scotland’s Cairngorms national park, with its population down to roughly 500, according to RSPB research carried out last year.
The conservation theme is also reflective of the personal traits of the country’s new monarch, who during his time as the Prince of Wales became well known for his environmental work.
The Royal Mint will base its decision on how many coins to release into circulation on a consultation with Post Offices and banks — a process that is expected to last until the end of 2024.
Coins with the image of Queen Elizabeth II, who died at the age of 96 in September 2022, are still in circulation and will remain legal tender as they are gradually phased out over time.
“Coinage designs have been meaningful symbols, used for all sorts of different purposes in the past. If today these things can get people to think about nature conservation, then they are doing an important job,” said Barker.
The new designs mark the final stage of a transition to a new coinage prompted by the coronation of King Charles this year, which marked the first change in the country’s head of state for 70 years.
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