They are the images which put the ‘Great’ in Britain and from today they will appear in the nation’s pockets, purses and tills.
Some 26 images – an A to Z of the nation’s most important landmark and traditions – will feature on new 10p pieces.
The idea is to celebrate British life and trigger a national coin hunt as people try to collect all of the designs – much like football sticker albums.
Those unwilling to put in the effort of collecting the coins – or missing some they need to complete the set – will be able to buy them from the Royal Mint.
However, the Mint will charge £2 per coin. There will also be a collector’s edition of each 10p coin struck in silver, which will cost £35 – £910 for all 26.
Shoppers will be able to upload details of the coins into a smartphone app created by the Royal Mint and share the details with friends and families on social media.
Using these details, the Mint will create a heat map to show which areas are seeing the most of any one of the 26 images.
The themes follow the alphabet from the Angel of the North to the Zebra Crossing.
In between, there is everything from Stonehenge to James Bond, cricket to the Loch Ness monster and even the double decker bus.
Food and drink are strongly represented with ice cream, fish and chips, a fry up and the humble cup of tea making an appearance.
The Houses of Parliament, the post box and the NHS are celebrated, along with the Robin – the bird rather than the three-wheeler driven by Del boy. Royalty, specifically the Queen’s jubilee, is represented, along with the mythical King Arthur.
The selection comes right up to date with W represented by the World Wide Web, as invented by Sir Tim Berners-Lee.
As is often the case with A-Z anthologies, X normally provides a problem. In this case, the Mint has gone for ‘X marks the spot’ as seen on pirate maps featured in books such as Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Accompanying the physical collection, The Royal Mint has introduced the Great British Coin Hunt app, which allows people to create a digital collection of the coins they find in their change.
Users can download the app for free from the App Store or Google Play, to scan the coin with their camera, unlocking exclusive content and placing their coin into a digital folder.
They can also link the app to their social media to share the treasures they find in their pockets and purses.
Anne Jessopp, the first woman chief executive of The Royal Mint in its 1,000 year history, 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.’
Director of the Royal Mint Museum, Dr Kevin Clancy, said the new 10p designs are a departure from the standard way of celebrating Britain through its notes and coins,
He said: ‘We have marked great events, celebrated engineers, politicians and of course royalty. This series really drills down into the heartland of what makes Britain British. It’s the granularity of British life celebrated on the coinage.’