Was just looking at the British mint (i.e. Royal Mint) annual report for 2023-24. Link is below. Production of coins for circulation was 16 million in 2023-24. In 2022-23, figure was 162 million! My family and I were in the UK for several weeks last year. Not once did we use cash. It was credit cards all the way. The commemorative coin business of the Mint is doing great though. The Mint has started on an industrial scale to recover precious metals from waste electronics to use for its own coins. And hopefully with enough left over to sell as bullion. Cal Link: https://www.royalmint.com/aboutus/annual-report/
I have a feeling that the number of people who will ever be interested in coins is dropping in tandem with the mintages, though.
That is really sad. I was last in the UK in January 2020 and I used cash all over the place. It is fun getting pound coins and "fivers" in change. I hear an increasing number of places in London these days don't accept cash. One day when I return that is all I will offer and merchants can take it or leave it. My experience has been that most merchants will still accept cash when shown!
