SHE is one of Scotland's most elusive residents, but remains a big draw for tourists and those seeking to catch a glimpse of a - supposedly - living legend.
But visitors looking for the Loch Ness Monster will soon be better off scanning through the change in their pockets and purses after Nessie was picked to adorn the latest range of 10 pence pieces from the Royal Mint.
The mythical lake-dwelling beast heads up Scotland's representation on a new collection of coinage due to go into circulation this year, featuring an A to Z of British icons from the Angel of the North in Newcastle to Zebra crossings.
Nessie was picked due to her popularity both at home an abroad, and represents the letter L.
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While the collection - dubbed the Great British Coin Hunt- covers the whole alphabet, the only other Scottish entrant to make the list is a raincoat.
Fittingly, for a country where a day's rain is never far away, Scottish inventor Charles Mackintosh's rainwear invention will also appear on the coins, representing the letter M.
M is for Mackintosh
Mackintosh first created the waterproof overcoat in 1824 and it has become standard apparel for those venturing out in wet climes during the century and a half since.
First launched in 2018, the collection has proved incredibly popular amongst the British public but the coins have only had limited circulation.
Now an additional 2.1 million coins will soon be released to the public, making the chances of bagging a Nessie much more likely.
Each have been eagerly snapped up by collectors, with a Loch Ness Monster coin currently worth around £35 on online marketplaces, while the Mackintosh is worth £5.
Uncirculated versions of the designs are also available to purchase from The Royal Mint website.
Nicola Howell, Director of Consumer Business at The Royal Mint said “These 26 individually designed coins, each with a quintessentially British subject, is the first ever commemorative range struck on a 10 pence piece.
"It will be one of the most limited issue coin designs for 2019 to be released into circulation, so to complete the collection we also have an exclusively designed 2019 A to Z collector album.”
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Away from Scotland, some of the UK’s most important scientific and technological achievements have also been included in the collection – W is for World Wide Web, representing Tim Berners-Lee’s invention of the internet, and G is for Greenwich Mean Time, celebrating Britain’s naval history and establishing a global timescale.
Quintessentially British food and drink such as cups of tea, fish and chips, English breakfasts and ice-cream cones also appear, along with defining national traits such as queuing.
Q is for Queuing
The natural world is represented in R for robins, the red-breasted garden bird which makes the UK its home the whole year round, and oak trees taking up the letter O's slot.
The Houses or Parliament represent H, while the myth of King Arthurs has been picked for the letter K. Other things judged to be "Quintessentially British" enough to make the list include the National Health Service (N), Stonehenge (S) and villages (V) and the Queen's jubilee (J).
The 10p collection comes after a set of 50 pence coins celebrating the 20th anniversary of the literary monster The Gruffalo, created while its author Julia Donaldson lived in Glasgow, have been released.
The Royal Mint launched the commemorative coins depicting the distinctive beast with orange eyes, poisonous wart and purple prickle earlier this month for collectors, not general circulation.
The beloved children's story was first published 20 years ago accompanied by colourful illustrations from Axel Scheffler. It went on to sell 13.5 million copies worldwide.
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Ms Donaldson said: "I can't believe it has been 20 years since The Gruffalo was first published.
"In that time, he's been brought to life on stage and screen, featured in nature trails, library cards and book tokens and turned into a soft toy; and now he's got his own 50p coin."
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