Bees £1 Coin (2023 to today)
The Bees £1 is the everyday £1 coin reverse from 2023 to today. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2023 to today
- Circulation mintage
- 19,040,000
- Value band
- Face value
- Composition
- Bimetallic: nickel-brass outer ring, nickel-plated alloy center
Original illustration of the coin's shape and metal. Tap to flip. Not a picture of the actual design.
Face value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is a Bees £1 worth?
The everyday Bees £1 is worth face value in circulated condition. Only uncirculated coins from sets or with a genuine mint error bring a premium.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with crisp edge lettering
- Original Royal Mint pack or set
- A genuine mint error confirmed by an expert
For market prices, look at recent sold results for the same coin in the same condition, not asking prices.
Quick answers
- Is the Bees £1 rare?
- No. 19 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many Bees £1 coins were made?
- 19,040,000 were struck for circulation.
- What is the Bees £1 made of?
- Bimetallic: nickel-brass outer ring, nickel-plated alloy center. It weighs 8.75 g and measures 23.43 mm, with a 12-sided shape.
- Is the Bees £1 still legal tender?
- Yes. The 12-sided £1 coin is legal tender in the UK.
The story of the Bees £1
When King Charles III came to the throne in September 2022, the Royal Mint began work on a complete new set of definitive coins to carry his portrait. Rather than continuing with the reverses used under Queen Elizabeth II, it chose a new theme for every denomination: the natural world of the United Kingdom, reflecting the King's long interest in conservation. Each coin from 1p to £2 shows a different plant or animal. The £1 shows bees.
The choice of bees for the pound makes a clear point. Bees pollinate a huge share of the crops and wild plants that people rely on. Their decline has become one of the best known worries in conservation. Putting them on the coin people handle most often gives them a prominent place in everyday life. The portrait on the obverse is by Martin Jennings, the sculptor chosen to create the King's coin effigy.
The Bees pound uses the same 12-sided, two-metal format as the Nations of the Crown pound. It has a gold-colored outer ring and a silver-colored center, so it works in the same machines and sits easily alongside the older coin. Mintages are far below the totals of 2016 and 2017, which ran into hundreds of millions. The Royal Mint struck 10,030,000 dated 2023 and 9,010,000 dated 2025. Those smaller figures reflect lower demand for cash and the fact that there are already plenty of 12-sided pounds in circulation. New coins are only made when banks and the Post Office need them. Coins of both monarchs remain legal tender, so a Bees pound and a Nations of the Crown pound can turn up in the same handful of change.
How to recognize it
The reverse shows bees, part of a set of nature designs across the King's definitive coins. Turn it over and you will see Martin Jennings's portrait of King Charles III, which faces left, the opposite way from the Queen on earlier coins. That is a long tradition on British coins, where each new monarch faces the other way from the last. It is the quickest way to sort a handful of 12-sided pounds by reign. The coin is 12-sided, with a gold-colored outer ring and a silver-colored center. If your 12-sided pound shows a rose, leek, thistle and shamrock rising from a coronet, you have the earlier Nations of the Crown design instead.
Over the run the other side carried the portraits of the monarch by Martin Jennings, so the date and portrait together tell you which year you have.
Bees £1 by the numbers
Across 2 circulation dates the Royal Mint struck 19 million Bees £1 coins. The biggest year was 2023 with 10 million; the smallest circulation year was 2025 with 9.01 million, about 1.1 times fewer.
What to check on your Bees £1
- Check the security features: a latent image that switches between a £ symbol and the number 1 when tilted, very small lettering on the inner rim and a two-color design.
- Weigh it: a genuine 12-sided pound weighs 8.75 g and measures 23.43 mm.
Compared with the old 12-sided pound, the Bees coins are scarce in change, simply because so few have been made. The 2023 date had 10,030,000 struck and the 2025 date 9,010,000. Those are still millions of coins, so a circulated example is a face value piece. Many people keep the first one they find, since it is still a novelty in most purses and pockets. Over time the King's coins will become more familiar as worn older pounds are withdrawn and replaced. Uncirculated examples come in Royal Mint annual sets and other packs. Those show sharp detail on the bees and an unmarked ring, while coins from change soon collect scuffs and small dents.
Bees £1 mintage by year
| Year | Circulation mintage |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 10,030,000 |
| 2025 | 9,010,000 |
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 1 pound |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2023 to today |
| Circulation mintage | 19,040,000 |
| Composition | Bimetallic: nickel-brass outer ring, nickel-plated alloy center |
| Weight | 8.75 g |
| Diameter | 23.43 mm |
| Shape | 12-sided |
| Edge | Alternating milled and plain sections |
| Portrait | Jennings |
Frequently asked questions
Why is there a bee on the new pound coin?
Bees appear on the King Charles III pound as part of a new set of definitive coins showing the natural world of the United Kingdom. Each denomination shows a different animal or plant, reflecting the King's interest in conservation.
How many Bees £1 coins have been made?
The Royal Mint struck 10,030,000 Bees pounds dated 2023 for circulation and 9,010,000 dated 2025. That is far fewer than the earlier 12-sided pound, whose 2017 date alone ran to nearly 750 million.
Are the old 12-sided pounds still legal tender?
Yes. The Nations of the Crown pounds with the Queen's portrait remain legal tender alongside the Bees pounds of King Charles III. Coins of both monarchs circulate together. The older ones are being replaced only gradually.
Mintage figures: One pound (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.