2017 coins in circulation

[eurocoin]

Tom Kitten and Jeremy Fisher 50p's have today been released in circulation.

[andyg]

Tom Kitten and Jeremy Fisher 50p's have today been released in circulation.

When the mint report that - it can be many months before they appear....
The Newton 50p was struck for circulation earlier this year - but it was over two months before they found their way into the wild.

[Alan71]

Is it just my bad luck or are 2017 coins scarce this year?  We're now almost in mid-November and all I've seen (apart from the £1 coin which, as a new issue, I don't count) is one 2017-dated 1p coin.  Normally by now, I would expect to see 2p, 5p, 10p and 20p coins.  Coming up to Christmas, I'm sure we'll start seeing them in December, but for now this is the first year I can remember where this has been the case.

[eurocoin]

Well, The Royal Mint is of course very busy with the production of the new 1 pound coin. They have a backlog with the production of that denomination and have very recently bought a high-tech press to tackle that. The production figures that we have also reflect that of course, with only the production of the 5p coin being normal compared to previous years. Next week we will get to see updated production figures and only then can conclusions be drawn to some extent about the real rarity of the 2017-dated coins. But indeed so far few reports of people having found 2017-dated coins.

[Alan71]

From Change Checker on Facebook, the Royal Mint source is https://www.royalmint.com/discover/uk-coins/circulation-coin-mintage-figures/two-pounds-to-20p-issued 

All of the below is Change Checker's wording, not mine (I'd use "fewer" instead of "less" in the Benjamin Bunny sentence!):

*** Mintage Figures ***
The Royal Mint have just published mintage figures for the 2017 50p coins:

- Sir Isaac Newton 50p: 1.8 million
- Peter Rabbit 50p :19.3 million
- Benjamin Bunny: 4.7 million
- Tom Kitten: 9.3 million
- Jeremy Fisher: 9.7million

Interestingly, at just 1.8 million the Sir Isaac Newton 50p coin has a lower mintage than the Jemima Puddle-Duck coin. Making it the SECOND LOWEST UK commemorative circulation 50p coin behind Kew Gardens (excluding the Olympic 50p range).
It is also worth noting that there are substantially less Benjamin Bunny 50p coins than the rest of the 2017 Beatrix Potter series.
Mintage figures are yet to be released for the 2017 £2 coins.

[andyg]

The 2017 shield 50p is tricky too (at the moment at least) - no mintage for that one yet.  Also out are 1p and 2p both hard to find.

[eurocoin]

These are the production figures of coins minted for circulation up until December 15 as povided to me by the mint a few weeks ago.

The WWI Aviation 2 pounds coins that were released at Duxford Battle of Britain Air Show on September 23 and 24 and the Jane Austen 2 pounds coins that were released on July 18 at Winchester Cathedral, at the Jane Austen Museum and across Basingstoke are not included as these were of BU quality as confirmed to me by the Mint. It was a small amount only released for advertising purposes.

[Alan71]

I can only assume many of these are waiting to be actually issued, as I've only seen 1p and £1 so far (and only one example of the 1p at that!)

[redlock]

Hm, is it possible that there will be no regular 2017 £2 coins minted for actual circulation

[eurocoin]

Hm, is it possible that there will be no regular 2017 £2 coins minted for actual circulation

I asked the mint about the possibility that no 2017-dated 2 pounds coins are going to be produced for circulation. They told me it is certainly possible but that experience in previous years shows that demand for high denomination coins usually increases significantly near the end of the year. So it is well possible that production has commenced in the last 2 weeks although I think they would then rather do commemoratives as that is in the interest of the coin hunt.

[redlock]

@eurocoin:
Thanks for the information update.

[Alan71]

The Britannia £2 design really has been a pointless exercise so far.  Very few in 2015 or 2016 and apparently none for 2017.  No loss though, as I'm no fan of the actual design.

[eurocoin]

The Britannia £2 design really has been a pointless exercise so far.  Very few in 2015 or 2016 and apparently none for 2017.  No loss though, as I'm no fan of the actual design.

I think it's a shame that they haven't released more of the Britannia 2 pounds coins since their launch as it is a quite nice design. This way it is indeed pointless. Theme is not really to my liking but I do not think we will get to see a modern thematic series for the UK any time soon.


The Royal Mint today told me that they will issue Aviation and Jane Austen 2 pounds coins into circulation.

[eurocoin]

In the last days of 2017 The Royal Mint has minted additional Benjamin Bunny coins (was 4.7 million - now at 11.3 million).
Final figures will be provided to me in the last week of January.

[andyg]

This thread was originally about coins in circulation - but despite all these mintages they are not to be found in the wild...

I deliberately searched through several thousand pounds worth of loose coin in December as that's when these usually appear (I work for a bus company) and have found the following,
1p to 20p none
50p shield 2
50p Rabbit 1
£1 - lots (but still no bad ones despite the press)
£2 - none.