New coins feature A-Z of British life

26 new 10p coins have entered circulation in the UK, dedicated to celebrating everything 'quintessentially British'. Each special edition coin is based on a different letter of the alphabet, from the Angel of the North to zebra crossings.

Of course, in certain cases there has been some barrel-scraping (we guess it was a toss up between a xylophone and 'X marks the spot'), but in most cases the designers have really hit the nail on the head when it comes to capturing everything the Brits love most, including tea, the Loch Ness Monster and the NHS.

The coin attracting most love so far is the Q, which stands for – of course – queuing. It even features a parade of tiny, etched figures queueing politely across it.

Take a look through the full collection below – use the arrows on the right and left to navigate through the collection.

Along with the A-Z coin range, the Royal Mint is launching a nationwide coin hunt, complete with a dedicated app – available for free on the App Store and Google Play. Numismatists (coin collectors, that is) can scan any alphabet coins they find, using their phone camera, then collate them into a digital 'collection'. The app will also reveal the locations where the rarest coins are being found.

Find out more about the coins on the Royal Mint website (it's currently down due to high volumes of traffic... but you can always wait in the queue).

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