Puffin 20p (2023 to 2026)
The Puffin 20p is King Charles III's 20p, showing a puffin beside 20 over PENCE. It was unveiled in 2023 but has not yet been released into change, so people look it up to find out when it will reach their pockets and how the set coins differ. It is one of the five 20p designs struck since 1982.
Puffin 20p value
- Uncirculated
- typical £4.80, range £3 to £6
Worked out from 6 published prices (4 price guides and 2 sold-price reports), each condition from its own prices, checked in September 2026.
With no coins yet released into change, every puffin 20p on the market is a collector piece and sells above face value. The date and finish decide what you have: 2023 set coins carry the Tudor crown privy mark, while the 2024 and 2026 coins exist only in brilliant uncirculated and proof sets. Condition matters, and a coin kept sealed in its pack or capsule is preferred to one that has been handled.
Puffin 20p mintage and rarity
20,650,000 Puffin 20ps were struck for circulation in 2023 and 2025 but have not been released, so the Puffin 20p has no rarity rank.
Its lowest circulation mintage was in 2023, with 525,000 struck.
| Year | Circulation mintage | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 525,000 | Struck for circulation but not yet released; the coins go into circulation only when there is demand for new 20p coins. |
| 2024 | None | None struck for circulation; brilliant uncirculated and proof sets only. |
| 2025 | 20,125,000 | Struck for circulation but not released as of September 2026. |
| 2026 | None | No circulation strikes recorded; made for the 2026 annual sets. |
How to spot a Puffin 20p
The tails side shows a puffin facing left, with 20 above PENCE at the left on a panel of interlocking Cs, and no other wording. Flip it over for the King's portrait, the date and the legend CHARLES III DEI GRA REX FID DEF. As the coin has not been issued into change, any puffin 20p you hold came from a set or another collector. Collector set coins of 2023 add a tiny Tudor crown next to the King's head; the stored circulation coins have no such mark.
Known varieties of the Puffin 20p, 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 struck for circulation do not.
Puffin 20p design
The puffin is the 20p's share of King Charles III's first definitive series, eight reverses of British wildlife and plants that went on sale in collector sets from 12 October 2023. The Royal Mint's own designers created them, and the King approved every one. The puffin earned its place because around a tenth of the world's puffins breed along the UK coastline, and because it is a Red List species whose numbers are forecast to fall steeply over the next thirty years unless its nesting sites and food are protected. A left-facing puffin is the main image on the seven-sided coin. At the left, 20 over PENCE sits on a small panel that repeats three linked letter Cs, a motif The Royal Mint took from the cypher of Charles II. Martin Jennings' portrait of the King, the date and CHARLES III DEI GRA REX FID DEF are on the other side. Coins were struck for circulation in 2023 and 2025, but The Royal Mint will only release them when there is demand for new 20ps.
Puffin 20p specifications
- Denomination
- 20p
- Years
- 2023 to 2026
- Type
- Definitive
- Issue
- Struck for circulation, not yet released
- Occasion
- Charles III's first definitive coins, eight reverses of British flora and fauna unveiled in October 2023
- Designer
- The Royal Mint
- Composition
- Cupro-nickel
- Weight
- 5 g
- Diameter
- 21.4 mm
- Shape
- Seven-sided
- Edge
- Plain
- Obverse
- Charles III, first portrait by Martin Jennings
Puffin 20p questions
Is the Puffin 20p in circulation?
Not yet. Puffin 20ps dated 2023 and 2025 were struck for circulation, but The Royal Mint says they will go out only when there is demand for new 20ps. By August 2026 the 5p, 50p, £1 and 10p had all entered circulation with the King's portrait.
Who designed the Puffin 20p?
The reverse was created by The Royal Mint's own designers and approved by the King. The obverse uses the first coin portrait of King Charles III, by Martin Jennings.
What is the crown mark on a 2023 Puffin 20p?
It is a Tudor crown privy mark, added beside the portrait on the 2023 coins made for brilliant uncirculated and proof sets. Coins struck for circulation do not have it.