New King Charles 10p coins enter circulation featuring endangered Scottish grouse

If you reach into your pocket for change over the next few weeks, you might find something that hasn't circulated in Britain for four years: a freshly minted 10p coin bearing the profile of King Charles III. What makes this coin unusual isn't just the new monarch's face. On its reverse side sits an image of the capercaillie, the world's largest grouse species, a bird so close to vanishing from the British landscape that there are now fewer of them alive in Scotland than there are coins about to enter circulation.

The Royal Mint has released 7.1 million of these coins into banks and post offices across the country—600,000 dated 2023 and 6.5 million from 2026. It's the first time new 10p pieces have been struck in approximately four years. The reason for the gap is straightforward: with 1.4 billion 10p coins already in circulation, there was simply no urgent need to mint more. The Royal Mint only produces new denominations when demand warrants it, and old currency bearing Queen Elizabeth II's image remains legal tender, so there's been no rush to replace it. But now, as coins featuring King Charles have begun appearing across the country—previously limited to 5p, 50p, and £1 denominations—the 10p has finally joined the rotation.

The capercaillie design comes from an illustration by Mike Langman, an artist who previously worked for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and whose work adorns RSPB nature reserves. The choice is deliberate and carries weight. The bird, found only in a small corner of Scotland, has experienced a population collapse so severe that it now faces extinction risk for the second time in its history. It sits on the UK's conservation red list, a designation reserved for species in genuine peril. Rebecca Morgan, director of the Royal Mint, framed the release as an act of public awareness. "It's a stark reminder that more of these coins will enter circulation than there are capercaillies left in the wild," she said. The hope, she explained, is that by placing this extraordinary bird into millions of pockets and purses across Britain, the coins might spark a broader conversation about a species genuinely at risk of disappearing from the country forever.

This move is part of a larger shift in how Britain's currency tells the nation's story. When King Charles ascended to the throne, the Royal Mint redesigned the entire suite of coins—from 1p to £2—to celebrate his known passion for the natural world. Each denomination now features different elements of British flora and fauna: bees, oak leaves, and other wildlife. It's a departure from the historical and symbolic imagery that has long dominated British currency, and it signals a deliberate choice to use everyday money as a vehicle for conservation messaging.

The coins themselves remain rare in the broader circulation. With only about 24.1 billion coins in active use across the UK, the new King Charles pieces represent just 1 percent of that total. For collectors and numismatists, both seasoned and new, these coins have become sought-after items—not yet scarce enough to be museum pieces, but uncommon enough to catch the eye when they appear in change.

The Royal Mint's experiment with wildlife imagery on coins is not an isolated effort. The Bank of England is preparing to follow suit with its banknote series. The next generation of £5, £10, £20, and £50 notes will abandon the historical figures—including Sir Winston Churchill—that have long graced British paper currency. Instead, they will feature animals, birds, and insects selected through a public vote that drew hundreds of thousands of responses from a shortlist of 18 species. The Bank of England's governor, Andrew Bailey, is expected to announce the final selections in the autumn, with security considerations factored alongside public preference. What began as a design refresh for coins is becoming a wholesale reimagining of how Britain represents itself through its money.