A detailed look at the number of coins minted and circulated in 2025.

Background

In August 2026 the Royal Mint released their annual update confirming the mintage figures for all coins produced in 2025.

Some of these coins have already entered circulation whereas others have merely been minted in advance.

It is Royal Mint policy to produce a certain number of coins intended for circulation and these remain in storage until the Treasury makes a specific request.

If there is low demand for certain denominations then the coins remain in storage or can be melted back down to make new coins.

This is why some 2023 coins were only circulated in 2025 such as the Oak Leaf 5p coin.

2025 Mintage Figures

The Royal Mint has confirmed that the following coins have been minted in 2025:

2025 Atlantic Salmon 50p - 2 million

2025 Bees £1 - 62.475 million

Puffin 20p - 20.125 million

Oak Leaf 5p - 19 million

Of the above so far only the £1 and 50p coins have entered circulation.

The Bees £1 sparked controversy last year as it was initially thought to be extremely rare when a mintage figure of only 170,000 was announced. But within a matter of weeks a further 8 million were released which significantly decreased its value.

Read more: The Bees and The Flowers: The Story of the 12-sided £1 Coin

The above figure indicates that there are actually more Bees coins held in reserve, but whether they do end up in circulation is yet to be determined.

The 2025 Salmon 50p coins have only recently entered circulation (since September 2026).

The 20p and 5p coins have not yet entered circulation. The Royal Mint tends to announce when the coins are due to be circulated.

Currently there are no official published mintage figures for the following 2025 coins:

Hazel Dormouse 1p

Red Squirrel 2p

Capercaillie 10p

Flowers £2

Based on this it is likely that none of these coins have been minted for circulation and therefore they would only ever be available as part of the BU Definitive set.

Please note that all mintage figures above are subject to change based on demand.

The Rarest Coins in Circulation

As part of their announcement this year the Royal Mint also posted an update to advise collectors which design of each coin had the lowest mintage figures.

£2 - 2002 Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games - 485,000 (still holds the record, and unlikely to be beaten as no £2 coins have been circulated since 2016)

£1 - 2011 Edinburgh Capital Cities - 935,000 (this coin is no longer in circulation after being replaced by the 12-sided coin in 2017, but still remains the rarest £1 coin)

50p - 2023 Atlantic Salmon - 200,000 (broke the record in 2023, stealing the crown from 2009 Kew Gardens) Read more here: RARER THAN KEW GARDENS - 2023 KING CHARLES ATLANTIC SALMON 50p MINTAGE FIGURES RELEASED

20p - 2023 Puffin - 525,000 (not yet released into circulation - figure based on intended amount. Shop the BU version below)

10p - 2019 A-Z Collection Letters W Y Z - 63,000 each (a three way tie, making them the rarest coins in circulation)

5p - 2025 Oak Leaf - 19 million (not yet circulated - intended figure only. Shop the BU version below)

2p - 2008 Ironside - 10.6 million (the final year of the Ironside designs before transitioning to the Royal Shield design)

1p - 2023 Hazel Dormouse (not yet circulated - intended figure only. Shop the BU version below)

All figures obtained from the Royal Mint and correct at time of publication.

Published September 2026