L 10p: Loch Ness Monster
The L 10p shows the Loch Ness Monster swimming across the loch with its tail curled around a large letter L. It brings Scottish folklore to the Royal Mint's 2018 A to Z series. It is one of the 26 A to Z 10p coins and one of the 31 10p designs struck since 1968.
L 10p value
- Circulated
- typical £4, range £3.90 to £4.20
- Uncirculated
- typical £3.70, range £3.40 to £4.10
Worked out from 9 published prices (4 price guides, 4 sold-price reports and 1 dealer price), each condition from its own prices, checked in September 2026.
Rarity rank 6 of 30 ranked 10p designs, rarest first (joint)
Rarity: Very rareThe Loch Ness Monster 10p is priced on condition and date. The ripples, hills and castle wear flat in circulation, so a coin with a detailed background is worth more than a smooth one. Expect a 2019 L to cost more than a 2018, since far fewer were issued for circulation. Coins from Royal Mint cards and pouches sell for about the same as a sharp one from change, and a scratch across Nessie's neck or the letter lowers any coin's price.
L 10p mintage and rarity
With 304,000 struck for circulation, the L 10p (Loch Ness Monster) is the joint sixth rarest of the 30 ranked 10p designs and has the joint eighth lowest mintage of all 194 circulating UK designs. That puts it in the Very rare band, for mintages under 500,000.
The next rarer 10p is the Q 10p (Queuing), with 303,000 struck, and the next more common is the Capercaillie 10p, with 7,100,000 struck.
Its lowest circulation mintage was in 2019, with 84,000 struck.
| Year | Circulation mintage | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 220,000 | Uncirculated version on sale from 1 March 2018. |
| 2019 | 84,000 | Same reverse with the 2019 date on the obverse; uncirculated version on sale from 26 February 2019. |
How to spot an L 10p
The L 10p is easy to pick out: a long-necked monster swims across a loch, with a castle ruin on the far shore and its tail looped around a large L. That side carries no date or value. Read the legend around the Queen's portrait to find them; it closes with TEN PENCE and the year, 2018 or 2019. A 2019 L and a 2018 L look identical on the monster side.
L 10p design
L in the Royal Mint's Great British Coin Hunt goes to the Loch Ness Monster, the creature of Scottish folklore said to inhabit Loch Ness, deep in the Scottish Highlands. The Royal Mint's verse calls a sighting something not to be missed, and its notes quote a witness who likened the beast to the closest thing to a dragon they had ever seen. The coin shows the loch itself: rippling water across the lower half, hills along the far shore and the ruin of a castle tower on a headland at the top right. Nessie swims across the middle, long neck raised and humps showing above the surface. A large serif L stands in the water on the left, and the monster's tail wraps around its foot. The Royal Mint credits the design to The Royal Mint Team.
It was one of the 26 coins in the A to Z set issued in 2018.
L 10p specifications
- Denomination
- 10p
- Years
- 2018 and 2019
- Type
- Commemorative
- Issue
- Issued for circulation
- Series
- A to Z
- Occasion
- The Royal Mint's Great British Coin Hunt, a Quintessentially British A to Z: the Loch Ness Monster
- Designer
- The Royal Mint Team
- Composition
- Nickel-plated steel
- Weight
- 6.5 g
- Diameter
- 24.5 mm
- Shape
- Round
- Edge
- Milled
- Obverse
- Elizabeth II, fifth portrait by Jody Clark
L 10p questions
Is the Loch Ness Monster 10p rare?
Fairly scarce. Loch Ness 10ps were struck for circulation only with 2018 and 2019 dates, and the 2019 coins are the harder ones to find in change.
When was the Loch Ness Monster 10p issued?
It entered circulation with a 2018 date and again with a 2019 date. The Royal Mint's packaged uncirculated versions were released on 1 March 2018 and 26 February 2019.