Capercaillie 10p (2023 to 2026)

The date matters most. Far fewer 2023 coins were released into change than 2026 coins, so a 2023 Capercaillie 10p from circulation draws more interest than a 2026 one. Collectors also pay for the set versions: the 2023 brilliant uncirculated coins with the Tudor crown privy mark, and the 2024 and 2025 coins, which were not struck for circulation. As with any new design, an unworn coin with full detail on the bird sells above one with bag marks.

With 7,100,000 struck for circulation, the Capercaillie 10p is the 27th rarest of the 30 ranked 10p designs and has the 125th lowest mintage of all 194 circulating UK designs. That puts it in the Uncommon band, for mintages 2,500,000 to 9,999,999.

The next rarer 10p is the A 10p (Angel of the North), with 304,000 struck, and the next more common is the Royal Shield 10p, with 1,668,141,996 struck.

Its lowest circulation mintage was in 2023, with 600,000 struck.

Look for a large grouse facing left with its head raised and its tail fanned, and 10 over PENCE on a tall panel of interlocking Cs down the left side. Those are the only words or numbers on that side. The heads side shows King Charles III with CHARLES III DEI GRA REX FID DEF. Coins from change are dated 2023 or 2026. The 2023 coins in brilliant uncirculated and proof sets have a tiny Tudor crown privy mark beside the portrait, which circulation coins do not.

Known varieties of the Capercaillie 10p, all listed among the UK error coins and varieties:

• 2023 Tudor crown privy mark: The 2023 coins in brilliant uncirculated and proof sets have a small Tudor crown privy mark on the obverse beside the portrait. Coins released for circulation do not.

The capercaillie is one of eight British plants and animals chosen for King Charles III's first definitive coins, which The Royal Mint unveiled in October 2023 to reflect the King's interest in conservation. The bird, the largest grouse anywhere, is now confined to a limited area of Scotland. It became extinct in Britain once already, in the eighteenth century, and is Red Listed today, at real risk of a second extinction. Mike Langman, a bird illustrator and former RSPB artist, drew the picture the design was developed from. The cock bird stands among sprigs of plants facing left, head raised and tail fanned in display. Down the left of the coin, the numeral 10 sits above the word PENCE on a panel of three interlocking letter Cs, a pattern borrowed from Charles II's cypher that links all eight coins. Martin Jennings' portrait of the King is on the obverse. Coins dated 2023 were struck that October and kept in store, then released in August 2026, alongside new 2026 coins, because demand for 10ps had risen.