Rare £1 coins: new pound coins with Queen Elizabeth II enter UK circulation - may be worth above face value
Keep an eye on your change – a rare new £1 could end up being a collector’s treasure 👀
- The last £1 coins featuring Queen Elizabeth II are entering circulation, dated 2021 and 2022
- Around 23 million Queen coins and 7.5 million King Charles III coins are being released
- The 2022 Queen £1 will be the rarest, with just 7.7m in circulation
- King Charles’s £1 coin features a bee design, part of a new nature-themed coin series
- Collectors are urged to check their change, as some coins could rise in value over time
If you’re handed a £1 coin in your change over the coming weeks, it may be worth a closer look.
The very last coins to feature the late Queen Elizabeth II are now entering circulation, and some of them could quickly become sought-after by collectors.
The Royal Mint has confirmed that more than 23 million £1 coins bearing Queen Elizabeth’s portrait – dated 2021 and 2022 – are being released.
These will be the final £1 coins ever to carry her image, marking what the Mint calls “a pivotal moment in British coinage history.”
Although the coins were struck several years ago, they are only being issued now because of ongoing demand for £1 coins.
Alongside the Queen’s final £1 coins, a further 7.5 million King Charles III coins are also entering tills and wallets. While his portrait has appeared on coins since 2023, until now it has only featured on the 50p and the £1.
Rebecca Morgan, director of commemorative coins at the Royal Mint, said: “As we release more of the King Charles III £1 coins into circulation alongside the final coins of Queen Elizabeth II, we’re witnessing the physical representation of our monarchy’s transition.”
What do the coins look like?
The Royal Mint hasn’t redesigned the £1 for the Queen’s final issues, and the 2021 and 2022 Queen Elizabeth II £1 coins entering circulation are the standard 12-sided £1 coins that were first introduced in 2017 to replace the old round pound.
The King Charles £1 coin features an intricate bee design on the tails side – a nod to the King’s long-standing passion for nature and conservation.
These are part of a wider redesign of UK coinage, with new flora and fauna motifs set to appear across all denominations from the 1p to the £2.
Other planned designs include a red squirrel, puffin and dormouse, with larger numerals added to help children identify figures and learn to count.
All UK coins bearing the late Queen’s profile remain legal tender and will continue to circulate alongside Charles’s coins for many years to come.
Most coins last around 20 years before being withdrawn, meaning the UK’s tills and wallets will see both monarchs side by side for at least a generation.
How much could they be worth?
For now, the Queen’s coins are worth exactly £1, and most will stay that way. But, as with other scarce circulation coins (such as rare 50p designs), certain dates and designs can fetch more from collectors over time.
Coins dated 2022, in particular, will be especially scarce, with just 7.735 million entering circulation, making them the rarest £1 coins currently in use.
For context, there are around a total of 24.7 billion coins in circulation across the UK. That puts the 2022 £1 at the very top of the “check your change” list for collectors, who tend to prize rarity above all else.
The 2022 Queen Elizabeth £1 coin, given its comparatively low mintage, is likely to be the one to watch, and if you come across one in your change, it might be worth setting it aside, just in case history boosts its value in the years to come.
As Morgan says, spotting one of these coins in your change could “spark a rewarding hobby.”
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