New Royal Mint £1 to become Britain’s rarest circulating coin?
** UPDATE 22/09/25 **
It’s now been announced that a further 8.84 million 2025 Bee £1 coins are being released into circulation, meaning it’ll actually have a circulating mintage of 9,010,000. This still means that the 2025 Bee £1 is the second rarest 12-sided £1 coin currently in circulation, behind the 2022 Nations of the Crown £1 with a mintage of 7,735,000.
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Breaking news Change Checkers, the 2025 Bee £1 is set to bee-come the UK’s rarest pound coin currently in circulation! In fact, as of this moment, the 2025 Bee £1 is even rarer than both the 2023 Salmon and Kew Gardens 50ps!
The UK’s NEW Rarest Coin? The 2025 Dated Bee £1
Today’s reveal is a big one for coin collectors as a staggeringly low number of 2025 Bee £1 coins will enter circulation, making it the new rarest UK pound coin currently in our change. Last year, the 2023 Salmon 50p unseated the iconic Kew Gardens 50p as the rarest UK coin in circulation, and now, the 2025 Bee £1 is poised to take over that top spot!
It’s been revealed that just 170,000 2025 Bee £1 coins are currently set to enter circulation, a whopping 30,000 less than the 2023 Salmon 50p which had a mintage of just 200,000!
The anticipation and excitement that greeted the 2023 Salmon 50p news is likely to be mirrored (or even exceeded) by the response when collectors start spotting 2025 Bee £1 coins in the wild.
Will you Bee joining the hunt to track one down in your change? We don’t yet know if more 2025 Bee £1s will be released later in the year, so collectors will need to act fast to find one!
So just how rare is this new £1 coin?
Each time the UK mintage figures are announced, we update our mintage figure charts to help you easily see which coins are the rarest. Following today’s news, we’ve updated our 12-sided £1 Mintage Figure chart, which now shows the 2025 Bee £1 right at the top.
In 2017 when the round pound designs were withdrawn from circulation, we set our Round Pound Mintage Figure list in stone, with the 2011 Scotland: Edinburgh City £1 at the top with a mintage of just 935,000! Even with the Edinburgh City £1’s tiny mintage, unless more enter circulation, the 2025 Bee £1 will be 5.5 times rarer!
More circulating £1 Coins also announced!
As well as the exciting news of the ultra-rare 2025 Bee £1, it was also announced that more 2021 and 2022 dated Nations of the Crown £1 coins will be appearing in our change. And, most unusually, these coins will feature Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse!
23.29 million Queen Elizabeth II Nations of the Crown £1 coins will be released – and these will be the LAST circulating £1 coins to feature Her Majesty, marking the end of an era.
If you haven’t been lucky enough to track down one of these coins yet, you now have another chance to get your hands on Queen Elizabeth II’s last circulating £1 coins.
And, with just 7.735 million of the 2022 dated Nations of the Crown £1s in circulation, this becomes the rarest 12-sided £1 coin to feature the Queen’s portrait!
We can also expect to see 7.395 million more 2023 dated King Charles III Bee £1 coins entering circulation soon – so keep your eyes peeled for those if you’re yet to find a 2023 Bee in your change!
Beat the Buzz
Can’t wait and want to get your hands on a 2025 Bee £1 right now? You can secure the 2025 UK Brilliant Uncirculated Coinage Set which includes the 2025 Bee £1, along with the other 7 new King Charles III definitive coins from the 1p to the £2.
Own the 2025 UK Brilliant Uncirculated Coinage Set, including the 2025 Bee £1 for just £39.50 >>
With a combined 30mn of the 2021 and 2022 £1 Nations of the Crown and 2023 KCIII Bees coming into circulation, even now, in late-2025, why has the Royal Mint only minted 170,000 of the 2025 £1 Bee coins? It doesn’t make any sense.
Surely it means that collectors will be on tenterhooks for years to come, wondering if their 2025 £1 Bees are scarce or not.
This isn’t the rarest £1 in circulation! There has only been 170K that have entered circulation, don’t be fooled or pay for one, the mintage figures will not be issued for 12 months….yes look for one but don’t buy.
I was lucky enough to get a sealed bag of 20 from the post office. I’ll make sure I don’t spend them
I have two king Charles Bee coins dated 2025 have wrapped in plain sellotape to preserve and also a 2020 peace prosperity and friendship with all nations 50p how much do you think they worth
I received a 2025 Bee £1 in my change last Friday at my local Post Office. Why do they sell on Ebay for only about £10 as compared to the 2023 Salmon 50p at around £65?
Just got 2 of them 2025 bees this morning in my change
Nice one Billy!
O beeeehave, just found 4 bees this evening.
Great site, grast community love collecting coins.
Nice one! You should beeee very happy about your find! ????
Kate
Are the 2025 bee one pound coin in active Circulation
Hi Alan, the announcement confirmed that they would soon enter circulation, but we have seen some circulating 2025 Bee £1 coins in bags being sold on eBay so they could already be out there!
Kate
Just because 170000 have entered circulation now, this doesn’t actually confirm 170000 have been minted, surely? We could see millions released in the future if they have been minted. What is your view on this please Kate?
Hi Dean, 170k is the initial mintage for the 2025 Bee £1 coins, however it is possible that more could enter circulation later in the year or even in future years. That’s why it’s important to specify that at this moment, it’s the rarest £1 coin, however this could change in the future.
Kind regards, Kate
Hi guys, will the 2025 £1 circulation issue differ from the BU coin in the definitive set? The photos don’t show a privy mark like the 2023 sets? Thanks and great site and article!
Hi Wayne, there will be no difference in the design, so it will be hard to tell whether you’ve got a circulation one or one broken out of a set – unless you can tell the difference between circulation and Brilliant Uncirculated which would be difficult!
Hope that helps, Kate
Thanks Kate, that helps! Mixed feelings over the set and circulation issue being the same as like you have eluded to, people will break them out of the sets. Although this in turn may make complete sets rarer over time.
I like that the 2023 Salmon 50p I got in change cannot be bought in a set.
I have AA01 AA03 AA04506003 AA05 andAK47 £20 notes and 3ten pound notes AA03 AA09 AA10 all queen Elizabeth are they worth any more than face value
Hi Will, check out our eBay Tracker which tells you how much some of the top coins and banknotes are selling for on the secondary market, and how to estimate the value of your own. See our eBay Tracker here: https://www.changechecker.org/category/ebay-tracker/
I hope that helps, Kate
If the 2025 coin is set to be the rarest where does that leave the 2023 release.
Hi Stevie, there are 10,030,000 of the 2023 Bee £1 coins in circulation, so whilst it’s not particularly rare, it’s great to have one of the first King Charles III £1 coins issued!
Kate
I have a Bee £1 coin i received in my change last year 2024.
Where would it leave that on the list.
thanks
Hi Stevie, that’s very interesting that you found a 2024 dated Bee £1 in your change, as according to The Royal Mint’s mintage figures, none of those have entered circulation yet. This means someone has broken one out of a 2024 Definitive Set and spent it, definitely one to hold on to!
Kate
I found a bee £1 last week!
Great find Monique! What was the date on it?
Kate
Love you all at ChangeChecker, love collecting coins and have ordered the definitive set just now. Thanks Welsh Wizard
Thanks for your lovely comment Darran, I hope you enjoy your set when it arrives! 🙂
Kate