Royal Mint unveils 26 quintessentially British 10p coins featuring James Bond and fish and chips

The Royal Mint has released a quintessentially British series of 10p coins.

Inspired by what makes Britain great, the 26 coin designs featuring James Bond, fish and chips and the Loch Ness Monster went into circulation on Thursday.

The A-Z series has a design for each letter of the alphabet and celebrates two anniversaries as the NHS turns 70 and the Angel of the North turns 20 this year.

It also features everyday items such as a postbox, a zebra crossing and a cup of tea.

Anne Jessopp, CEO at The Royal Mint said “These designs were selected because we feel they represent a diverse mix of elements that make up the country we all love.

“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.”

Kevin Clancy, director of the Royal Mint Museum, said: "This is a departure from the standard way in which The Royal Mint has celebrated what is great about Britain in the past. We have marked great events, celebrated engineers, politicians and of course royalty.

"This [is] the granularity of British life celebrated on the coinage."