Noodling A Complete Set Of UK Coins From Circulation

On Halloween Night I had sorted through the ominous total of 666 British penny coins, so I thought I'd list the results!
1971 20
1972 None - Proof sets only
1973 1
1974 3
1975 2
1976 8
1977 4
1978 1
1979 7
1980 6
1981 1
1982 2
1983 4
1984 2
1985 1
1986 6
1987 8
1988 9
1989 12
1990 4
1991 4
1992 3
1993 13
1994 19
1995 6
1996 16
1997 9
1998 20
1999 34
2000 32
2001 29
2002 10
2003 17
2004 23
2005 14
2006 25
2007 13
2008 Portcullis 6
2008 shield 20
2009 27
2010 26
2011 20
2012 23
2013 9
2014 25
2015 Rank-Broadley 17
2015 Jody Clark 39
2016 20
2017 35
2018 None - Unc and Proof sets only
2019 None - Unc and Proof sets only
2020 3
2021 None - not known if any have been issued
2022 None - not known if any have been issued

Others
Jersey 1986 1
Jersey 1994 1
Jersey 1998 1
Guernsey 1971 1
Ireland 1p 1988 1
Canada 1 cent 1999 1
Spain 5 eurocents 1999 1
1 Farthing 1944 1

Bronze coins represent approximately 16.3% of the total and the remaining 83.7% are copper-clad steel.

Fascinating post on noodling!

Would a farthing passed off as 1p now? I am surprised you would find it in the circulation!

Can hear my Dad telling me how much he could buy with a farthing. :)

Keep up doing the great work! Hope you would find these elusive 10p coins!

My uncle tried to do for me but he gave up because it is not easy to find them.
I explained to him that one has to pop in the bank to get a bag or two. It is too much work and I just let my request slide as I learnt the mintage is pretty low.

He always is on the lookout for me. Bless him.

Will keep an eye on your topic!

Cheers!

Interesting thread.

I have worked in various places that handle money and I have yet to handle an alphabet coin. This is the coin release that thwarted my interest... up until that point I had found virtualy every coin possible (missed a few olympic 50p coins but I bought a set of them so that didn't bother me) I even found the kew gardens in change before everyone else had caught onto it... I can't believe how much they sell for now.

Sometimes I feel we can have too much of a good thing.... after doing the USA State Quarters I got stuck into the Presidential dollars and about halfway through they seemed to become not for circulation or something.... the 50pence coins went mad here... I hoarded quite a lot of them thinking they might be useful for trading on here but completing out of noodling seems to have come to an end. Its even the same for banknotes, I used to be able to grab first series notes but it seems everyone has wised up... bank tellers too I expect.

Well done, andyg!

I was in Brighton on business on Monday, and before going home I had a good look in all the 'pusher' machines on the pier and didn't see a single alphabet coin...

As far as I am aware there is no date of 1p coins that was issued for circulation with both bronze and steel planchets.

With my 2p coins I do indeed note how many of both types I find for 1998. Here is a breakdown of my 2p coins so far...

1971 131
1972 none (Proof Sets Only)
1973 none (Proof Sets Only)
1974 none (Proof Sets Only)
1975 33
1976 5
1977 12
1978 14
1979 23
1980 48
1981 29
1982 none (Proof and BU sets only)
1983 none (Proof and BU sets only)
1984 none (Proof and BU sets only)
1985 17
1986 19
1987 37
1988 50
1989 51
1990 24
1991 11
1992 15
1993 24
1994 61
1995 9
1996 47
1997 69
1998 bronze 18
1998 steel 13
1999 57
2000 58
2001 77
2002 20
2003 43
2004 56
2005 41
2006 28
2007 47
2008 plumes 1
2008 shield 42
2009 32
2010 17
2011 23
2012 34
2013 10
2014 51
2015 Rank-Broadley 16
2015 Jody Clark 38
2016 40
2017 4
2018 None (Proof and BU sets only)
2019 None (Proof and BU sets only)
2020 None (Proof and BU sets only)
2021 5
Misecellaneous coins: 3 (2 x Isle of Man 2p, 1 x Jersey 2p)

Out of 1,503 coins searched, 523 (about 35%) were bronze, so bronze 2p's are about twice as common in circulation as bronze pennies!

The most interesting feature is the scarcity of 1976 2p coins, which have an official mintage figure of 181,379,000 (about 30 million more than in 1975) but are much scarcer. I first noticed this a few years ago when I was trying to find one from pocket change for an American CCF member and it took months! From the number in circulation I'd estimate the true mintage figure for the 1976 2p to be between 15 and 30 million.

The fact that after 50 years the 1971 2p is still by far the most common date in circulation seems to be lost to the idiots on ebay who continue to list them for ridiculous amounts!

Looking good!

It seems that the situation with Russia is similar in the UK. They issue commemorative coins with a face value of 10 rubles (and yes, you will almost never find them in circulation), the only way to get them is to buy them from a dealer. It seems that things are best in the USA, where, as far as I understand, all commemorative coins can be found in circulation (apparently the circulations are so huge that it is impossible to sell them with %).
By the way, I wanted to know. In the UK, is it possible to get Jersey, Gibraltar, etc. coins for change? When my mother was in London a few years ago, she brought me a "shield" and a certain amount of change. I was lucky and there was a pound of Gibraltar 2017 (now I don't have it anymore, now I regret that I didn't leave the coin).

At last I've found a 2023 Coronation 50p - my first 2023 UK coin from circulation. Here is an update on my noodling to (practically) the end of the year.

I haven't adjusted totals to show 'definitive' 2023 coins of King Charles III, although andyg from the Forum has already found some definitive 50p's in circulation. It's been a very barren few months for Alphabet 10p's - despite looking in the pusher machines at numerous seafront penny arcades over the summer, I never saw a single one!