This Year's Coins

Reverse of 2009 Gold Britannia

When Will This Year's Coins Be Issued?
Every year we get asked about the issue dates and availability of this year's coins. We have provided this page and others to try to answer the question. There are really many different answers depending whether we are discussing coins for circulation or for collectors, and depending on which country we are talking about.

Circulation Coins - Great Britain
Newly Minted Coins Are Not Issued On January 1st!
In the UK, the British Royal Mint does not issue each new year's coin on January 1st. Coins for circulation are produced as and when needed. The Royal Mint work like most other factories, and respond to orders placed by the Bank of England, to supply banks and post offices. It never issues coins with future dates. This means that the very soonest any coins would be available would be January 1st each year. In practice many denominations may not be produced until several months later, and in some years, not at all. If there are sufficient quantities of a particular coin value in circulation, then no new coins are struck or issued.
It is often difficult or impossible for us to find out in advance which coins will be issued and when.

Great Britain - Collectors' Coins
Because the Royal Mint now has a special department which produces and markets special collectors' editions, there is often an approximate schedule for release of various denominations and editions. Dates for these may vary from January through to October or even later in the calendar.

Other Countries - Circulation Coins
This is the category which we know least about. Every country will have its own schedule, although it's worth reading our section above about UK coins, as most countries only mint and issue coins according to supply and demand. As a general rule, large countries such as the USA issue large quantities of coins, and almost always produce a quantity of each denomination in every year. Small countries, which often make large numbers of collectors coins, only need small quantities of circulating coins, and therefore often fail to produce a number of denominations each year.

Other Countries - Collectors' Coins
Some countries don't issue many collectors' coins, while others churn them out incessantly. We recently counted and compared the number of pages taken up in Krause's Catalogue of World Coins, by the Isle of Man (population 68,000), against the USA (population 285 million). Isle of Man occupied 52 against 27 for the USA!
Each country has its own schedule for release of its collectors' coins. We can't give a complete list of every country, but here are a few examples of different attitudes from different countries.

Australia issues some of its coins in the last quarter of the preceeding year, and produces high quality coins with a wide range of prices.
Ireland produces very few collectors' coins, and almost seems to discourage coin collecting.
The Isle of Man produces more than its fair share of collectors' coins at some of the highest prices, but this is due to marketing by the Pobjoy Mint.
The UK produces a good range of collectors' coins, but schedules their release throughout the year to suit its production and marketing rather than the desires of collectors. Some of its prices are high compared with other countries.
The Eurozone countries are currently concentrating on the introduction of the Euro, and are a little pre-occupied to bother with collectors's versions, although these will undoubtedly follow, and each state will "do its own thing".

You may wish to visit some of our other pages:
Specifications of Current British Coins
Value of my Coin. What's it Worth?
British Coin Denominations. What's a Groat,? etc.
Common Names of British Coins. What's a Tanner?