£1 Coins
The rarest circulating UK £1 coins and how much they could be worth!
Since replacing the round pound in 2017, the 12-sided £1 coin has quickly become a collecting favourite. With the £1 coins issued each year having vastly different mintages and and the recent introduction of the first King Charles III £1, some £1 coins are much rarer than others.
Here’s a look at the Top 3 rarest 12-sided £1 coins in circulation right now, based on their mintage figures.
2022 Nations of the Crown £1
In August 2025, it was confirmed that the 2022 dated Nations of the Crown £1 has a circulating mintage of just 7,735,000 – making it the rarest £1 coin currently in circulation!
Whilst the 2022 Nations of the Crown £1 tops the chart as the rarest 12-sided £1, with over 7 million of these coins in circulation, collectors still stand a very good chance of finding one.
There are currently 7 different Queen Elizabeth II £1 coins in circulation, so the race is now on to track them all down in our change!
But how much is a 2022 Nations of the Crown £1 worth? Well, for those looking to get their hands on one on the secondary market, they’re currently selling for between £5.16 and £10.74 on eBay.
2025 King Charles III Bee £1
It was initially announced in August 2025 that just 170,000 2025 dated Bee £1 coins would enter circulation, which would have made it the rarest pound coin in circulation. However, just 1 month later, it was revealed that an additional 8,840,000 2025 Bee £1 coins would enter circulation, making it the second rarest 12-sided £1 coin with a total mintage of 9,010,000.
If you’re lucky enough to have found one in your change already – very well done!
Whilst many collectors will hold on to this coin and have it as the pride of their collection, some may wish to part with it. Should you chose to sell your 2025 Bee £1, the median selling price currently on eBay is around £12.90 – not a bad return on a £1 coin!
The best way to guarantee a 2025 Bee £1 for your collection in superior collector quality it of course to secure it in the 2025 Definitive Set, along with the other 7 new King Charles III definitive coins, from the 1p to the £2.
2023 King Charles III Bee £1
The first time we saw King Charles III on a UK £1 coin was in 2023 when the New UK Coinage was issued, revealing 8 new coinage designs from the 1p to the £2.
2.975 million 2023 Bee £1 coins entered circulation in August 2024, and due to the low mintage and it being the FIRST circulating King Charles III £1 – collectors rushed to find one in their change.
This low mintage initially made it hard for collectors to find one in the wild, however it was also announced in August 2025 that more 2023 Bee £1s would go into circulation, making the final mintage figure 10,030,000.
The median selling price for a 2023 Bee £1 as of August 2025 is around £5.65, but we expect this price to rise as more collectors start their King Charles III collections.
Honourable mention: The rarest round pounds
Of course, before the 12-sided £1, the round pound coins, which were in circulation from 1983 to 2016, had their own rarities.
Out of the 25 different round pound coin designs, the 2011 Edinburgh City £1 remains the rarest of them all, with just 935,000 entering circulation.
At just shy of 1 million, you might think this mintage doesn’t seem particularly low, however when compared to the Royal Arms £1 which has a total mintage of 623,304,510 across the years it was issued (1983, 1993, 2003 and 2008) – you’d have had to be incredibly lucky to find one in your change!
The Wales: Cardiff City £1 comes in second place with a mintage of 1,615,000 and the England: London City £1 is the third rarest with a mintage of 2,635,000. So the Capital City series is sure to be a popular ones with collectors looking for a rare gem!
While round pound coins are no longer legal tender and can’t be found in circulation, they’re still highly collectible, and the Edinburgh City £1 still regularly sells for more than £10 on the secondary market!
Why rarity matters for collectors
With over a billion £1 coins in circulation, only a handful of dates or designs truly stand out as rare finds. Low mintages like those of the 2025 Bee £1 or 2022 Nations of the Crown £1 mean collectors need to be quick to snag one, as they don’t turn up in change very often.
How to check your £1 coins
- Check the date – you’ll find it on the obverse alongside the monarch’s portrait, as well as the micro-engraving on the reverse.
- Compare mintages – Check our Mintage Charts to see where your coin ranks.
- Check recent sold prices – Use our 6 Point Guide to help value your coin.
Whether you’ve just spotted your first Bee £1 in your change or you’re building a date-run of 12-sided pounds, these are the top £1 coins to look out for.
Let us know which of these rare £1 coins you have in your collection!
Secure the 2022 Nations of the Crown £1 for your collection
Secure the 2022 Queen Elizabeth II Last Definitive Coin Set for your collection >>
Hunt is on to Collect the RAREST Queen Elizabeth II £1 Coin!
Listen up collectors! It’s just been announced that the 2022 dated Nations of the Crown coin is the rarest Queen Elizabeth II £1 in circulation and the hunt is now on to find one in your change!
Of the 23.29 million Queen Elizabeth II £1 coins set to enter circulation this year, just 7.735 million of these are 2022 dated, making it the rarest Queen Elizabeth II 12-sided £1 coin.
The decision to release more Queen Elizabeth II £1 coins into circulation marks a pivotal time for collectors. This is the end of an era for Queen Elizabeth II coinage, as no more coins featuring Her Majesty’s portrait on the obverse will ever be released into circulation.
So now really is the perfect time for both experienced numismatists and newcomers to dive into coin collecting and hunt down every Queen Elizabeth II coin in your change – starting with the £1 coins that have just been released into circulation!
Are you ready to take on the challenge to find the Queen Elizabeth II £1 coins in your change? With seven circulating Queen Elizabeth II £1 coins to be found, the hunt is on to find them all – including the rare 2022 £1 coin!
But, with the release of these final coins, the clock is ticking to complete your Queen Elizabeth II collection before it’s too late…
Queen Elizabeth II Coinage
For seven decades, Queen Elizabeth II was a staple of UK coins – featuring on the obverse of our circulating coinage, from the 1p to the £2.
Her sad passing in 2022 led to a redesign of our coins and the introduction of the Bee £1 to replace the familiar Nations of the Crown design, as seen below.
Whilst her effigy was still used on coins up until December 2022, any coins entering circulation that year were thought to be the very last Queen Elizabeth II coins we could find in our change.
However, The Royal Mint’s announcement on 20th August 2025 reveals that more coins featuring Her Majesty are set to enter circulation this year.
In an unusual turn of events, more coins dated 2021 and 2022 will shortly be finding their way into our change – giving collectors another opportunity to get their hands on the Queen’s last coins!
In fact, it’s even been announced that the 2022 Nations of the Crown £1 will be by far the rarest 12-sided £1 coin – with just 7.735 million entering circulation. Compare that to the 749.6 million Nations of the Crown £1 coins released in 2017 and you’ll appreciate just how rare this coin really is.
How does this affect £1 coin mintages?
With this announcement, we can update our Queen Elizabeth II 12-sided £1 coin mintage figure chart, which helps you see where these coins rank in terms of rarity.
Whilst the 2022 Nations of the Crown £1 tops the chart and is the rarest Queen Elizabeth II £1 you can find in your change, with over 7 million of these coins in circulation, collectors still stand a very good chance of finding one.
So the race is now on to track down the Queen Elizabeth II £1 coins in our change! Will you find all seven – including the rare 2022 £1 coin?
Let us know if you’ve managed to find any already in the comments below!
The Last Definitive Coins of Queen Elizabeth II
If you haven’t been lucky enough to find a 2022 Nations of the Crown £1 in your change, you can secure it in the 2022 Queen Elizabeth II Last Definitive Coin Set, including all 8 definitive coins issued in 2022 – Her Majesty’s final year.
Secure the 2022 Queen Elizabeth II Last Definitive Coin Set for your collection >>
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 >>