The first coins featuring King Charles III will start appearing among people's change from today.

Millions of shiny new 50p pieces - featuring the monarch's profile - are to enter circulation via Post Office counters.

While all coins featuring the effigy of the Queen remain legal tender, more than 4.9 million new coins carrying the face of the King will be distributed this month starting on Thursday, December 8.

Post Office customers will need to make a purchase at a branch, which has been allocated coins as part of the release, in order to stand a chance of receiving the new design as change.

Eventually 9.6 million new 50ps will steadily enter circulation, replacing worn or damaged coins featuring the Queen that are gradually removed, as demand dictates.

Close to 10,000 Post Office counters have been given the new 50p pieces to distribute, which the Royal Mint believes will encourage an entirely new group of coin collectors keen to get their hands on a piece of royal history.

"Today marks a new era for UK coinage, with the effigy of King Charles III appearing on 50ps in circulation," said Rebecca Morgan, director of collector services at The Royal Mint.

"We anticipate a new generation of coin collectors emerging, with people keeping a close eye on their change to try and spot a new 50p that bears the portrait of our new King."

In line with tradition King Charles is facing the opposite way to the Queen, who died in September, as profiles are alternated between left and right for successive royals. As with previous British kings, but unlike his mother, King Charles also wears no crown.

The reverse side of the new 50p coin is a copy of the design used on the 1953 coronation Crown. It includes the four quarters of the Royal Arms depicted within a shield and between each shield is an emblem of the home nations: a rose, a thistle, a shamrock and a leek.