Great British Coin Hunt 2019 underway

Last year, Britain’s Royal Mint sparked a nationwide coin hunt. It put into circulation 26 new 10-pence coins. Each bore a different letter of the alphabet accompanied by an appropriate A-Z design.

Collectors and, importantly, a host of new collectors took to the hunt like dogs to a bone. Social media and eBay ran hot with sought-after coins reported, bought, sold, traded, and exchanged. All in all, it was a stunning success.

Reverses of three of Britain’s 2019 10-pence alphabetical coins: “W” for World Wide Web, “C” for Cricket, and “N” for National Health Service. (Images courtesy and © The Royal Mint)

This year, the exercise is being repeated. The Great British Coin Hunt 2019 is underway. In late February, 2.1 million 2019-dated 10p coins were placed in circulation.

The coins’ designs are the same as last year, starting with A-is-for-Angel-of-the-North to Z-is-for-Zebra-Crossing. Along the way, there is F-is-for-Fish-and-Chips, L-is-for-Loch-Ness-Monster and, inevitably, T-is-for-Tea. This is Britain, after all.

At the release, Nicola Howell, Director of Consumer Business at The Royal Mint, observed, “These 26 individually designed coins, each with a quintessentially British subject, is the first ever commemorative range struck on a 10-pence piece. To help complete the collection, we also have an exclusively designed 2019 A-to-Z collector album.”

Presumably the Great British Coin Hunt phone app will again be available to allow coin hunters to create a digital collection of the coins they find in their change. Last year, a heat map within the app showed where different coins were being found around the U.K.

For those who can’t be bothered to seek out individual coins from circulation, a full uncirculated set can be purchased from The Royal Mint online.

Full information is available at www.royalmint.com/coinhunt/, where the Mint’s search for the UK’s youngest coin collector is being conducted. And, yes, there are numerous YouTube videos.