Royal Mint Coin Hunt: What It Is and How to Take Part
“Royal Mint coin hunt” covers two campaigns. The Great British Coin Hunt (2018 and 2019) put 26 A-Z 10p coins into circulation for people to find in their change. The Great British Treasure Hunt (2026) was a code-breaking competition played with a collector £5 coin called The Penny Drops. Here is how each one works and what the coins are worth.
The Great British Treasure Hunt (2026)
The Royal Mint launched the Great British Treasure Hunt on 29 January 2026. It centred on The Penny Drops, a £5 coin inspired by Sir Isaac Newton, who served as Master of the Mint, and designed by Christian Davies and Matt Dent. The Royal Mint described it as the first time a UK coin had been used as the key to a national puzzle.
The hunt had five levels:
- Level 1 was free to play online, with no coin needed.
- Levels 2 to 5 needed the coin: clues and access codes were hidden in its design and packaging.
The prize was a 250g gold bar, which the Royal Mint valued at about £30,712 on 28 January 2026. Entry was open to UK residents only. The competition closed at 23:59 BST on 30 March 2026, and the winner was drawn at random from correct entries on or after 31 March.
The Penny Drops £5 editions
| Edition | Notes |
|---|---|
| Brilliant Uncirculated | Cupro-nickel, 28.28 g, 38.61 mm |
| Silver Proof | Sterling silver collector strike |
| Gold Proof | Supplied with a BU edition to play the hunt with |
The Penny Drops is a collector coin sold by the Royal Mint and does not circulate. Because the competition has closed, its value now rests on collector demand rather than the chance of a prize. Check eBay sold listings before paying over the odds on the secondary market.
The Great British Coin Hunt (2018 and 2019)
The original Coin Hunt ran in 2018. The Royal Mint released 26 new 10p coins, one for each letter of the alphabet, each celebrating something quintessentially British: A for Angel of the North, B for Bond, James Bond, Z for Zebra Crossing and so on. All 26 were designed by Edwina Ellis. The idea followed the success of the 2012 Olympic 50p coins, which had turned checking change into a national habit.
It was meant to last a year, but it proved popular enough to return in 2019 with a second, much smaller run released from February through Post Offices and cash centres. The Royal Mint also sold collector albums and ran a coin hunt app with coin scanning and a map of finds.
A-Z 10p mintages
| Year | Per letter | Scarcest letters |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 220,000 each | None: every letter had the same mintage |
| 2019 | Varied (2.1 million in total) | W, Y, Z (63,000 each), R (64,000), Q (83,000) |
The 2019 coins are the ones to look for. Our 10p coin values guide lists every letter with current realised prices.
Hunting your change today
There is no live Royal Mint hunt for circulating coins at the moment, but plenty of collectable coins are still turning up in change: A-Z 10ps, Olympic and Beatrix Potter 50ps, and commemorative £2 coins.
- Change Hunter: a free checklist of every circulating UK coin from 1p to £2, with mintages and realised prices, so you can tick off what you find.
- Rare 50p coins, including Kew Gardens and the lowest-mintage commemoratives.
- Olympic 50p coins, the 29 designs that started the craze.
- Beatrix Potter 50p coins and Paddington 50p coins.
- Rare £2 coins worth checking your change for.
Want to keep track on your phone? The MyCoinage coin collection app runs in your browser and can be added to your home screen.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Royal Mint coin hunt?
Is the Great British Treasure Hunt still running?
Is The Penny Drops £5 coin in circulation?
Which A-Z 10p coins are the rarest?
Are A-Z 10p coins worth anything?
Is there still a Royal Mint coin hunt app?
Further reading
- 10p coin values UK, every A-Z letter and its value.
- Royal Mint subscription review, whether the collector plans are worth it.
- Rare 50p coins UK, the ones to look for in your change.