Sometimes life delivers a tiny sign that hums with meaning.
Recently, my housemate Judy found a new £1 coin — freshly minted for 2023 — celebrating the humble honey bee. On one side, the portrait of King Charles III; on the other, the intricate design of bees gathering around a honeycomb.

What caught our attention about this coin, though, was something unexpected: the King’s crown was missing. Where the royal crown usually appears behind his head, there was only smooth metal — an apparent minting error that may make this coin rare.

And yet, even before we looked up its potential value, it already felt precious — a synchronicity linking our everyday life with the larger pattern of nature’s intelligences.

The Bee as Teacher

For those of us in the Findhorn community, and especially within the Integral City Honeybee Tribe, the bee has long been a symbol of cooperation, right relationship, and service.
Bees remind us that wealth arises not from hoarding but from pollination — from giving freely and receiving in balance. Their hive is a living city of purpose, with every role essential to the wellbeing of the whole.

How fitting, then, that in this first series of coins bearing King Charles’s image, the Royal Mint chose the Bee — a creature embodying both work and devotion, “Work as Love in Action” in its purest form.

The Missing Crown

In our case, the missing crown seems almost poetic. Perhaps it whispers that true kingship – or kinship – or tribal source — is shared, not worn. The hive has no single ruler; it thrives through the collective intelligences of thousands working as one.

Could it be that this “error” carries an evolutionary message — that leadership in our times is transforming from domination to co-creation, from hierarchy to holarchy?
Perhaps this tiny £1 coin is inviting us to notice the new currency of care: connection, cooperation, and contribution.

A Small Coin, A Great Reminder

Whether or not our coin turns out to be a collector’s rarity, it has already done its real work — reminding us to look with curiosity and gratitude at the signs that appear in our path.
Sometimes, a coin found in the change purse can affirm a lifetime of learning:

that every act of care for the hive adds to the wealth of the world.

Thank you, King Charles III — and thank you, Bees — for keeping the crown light, the honey flowing, and the message clear:
Community is the true currency of the realm.