The new King Charles 50p is set to enter circulation today, here’s what it looks like

The passing of Queen Elizabeth II in September marked the end of an era, both literally and figuratively. The ascension of her son King Charles III to the throne has set in motion a tidal wave of changes, from changing postboxes, to renaming Barrister titles, to of course the faces on the everyday currency we use.

And one of those changes begins today. The Bank of England has announced that the new Fifty Pence piece with Charles’s face on it will now enter circulation. As per a lasting tradition, Charles’s face will be facing the opposite way of that of his mother.

So while it will not be an instantaneous transformation, slowly but steadily, we will see the face of Charles begin to enter our every day coinage. While Elizabeth’s face will be with us for a while yet, the phasing out has seemingly officially begun.