The new collection of 10p coins feature an embossed image relating to each letter of the alphabet.

The Royal Mint sought the help of the public when deciding what designs to include. The letter A coin includes an image of the Angel of the North, which was voted the most iconic landmark in the north of the UK (25%), beating Blackpool Pier (13%), the Yorkshire Dales (9%) and even Edinburgh Castle (15%).

The C coin portrays cricket which despite all the football fans, was voted the most British sport (48%) beating football (29%) and rugby (6%). The Loch Ness monster was voted as the most infamous myth (84%), beating Robin Hood (51%) and George and the Dragon (5%).

Tea was voted as the most British drink (86%), beating coffee (2%) and gin and tonic (2%) by a huge margin.

Anne Jessopp, CEO at The Royal Mint said: ‘These designs were selected because we feel they represent a diverse mix of elements that make up the country we all love. There is a lot to be proud of in the UK – whether it’s at the highest level, our Houses of Parliament representing democracy and freedom of speech, technological advancements such as Tim Berners-Lee’s World Wide Web, or just a good cup of tea, it’s all here in the designs.

‘We hope the British public is inspired to take part in the Great British Coin Hunt by checking their change for those miniature works of art that spell out just some of the many iconic themes that are Quintessentially British.’

The 26 coins are as follows:

·         A – Angel of the North

·         B – Bond…James Bond

·         C – Cricket

·         D – Double Decker Bus

·         E – English Breakfast

·         F – Fish & Chips

·         G – Greenwich Mean Time

·         H – Houses of Parliament

·         I – Ice-Cream Cone

·         J – Jubilee

·         K – King Arthur

·         L – Loch Ness Monster

·         M – Mackintosh

·         N – National Health Service

·         O – Oak Tree

·         P – Post Box

·         Q – Queuing

·         R – Robin

·         S – Stonehenge

·         T – Teapot

·         U – Union Flag

·         V – Village

·         W – World Wide Web

·         X – X Marks the Spot

·         Y – Yeoman

·         Z – Zebra Crossing

The Royal mint has also launched the Great British Coin Hunt app, allowing people to create a digital collection of the coins they find in their change. Individuals can download the app from the App Store or Google Play, to scan the coin with their camera, placing their coin into a digital folder.

There will also be a heatmap within the app, showing where different coins are being found around the country and will direct individuals to swap shops where they can trade coins with other collectors. Users can even design their own coin.

The collection has entered circulation today.

The full A-Z 10p coin collection is here but due to huge crowds flocking to see the new collection you may have to wait an hour in a queue to even get on to the website.

Report by Amy Austin