Poll: Choose your all-time favourite £1 coin design
As part of the Great One Pound Coin Race, we want to find out Britain’s ultimate favourite £1 coin.
Over the last couple of months we’ve been asking Change Checkers to vote for their favourite UK, Scottish, Northern Irish, Welsh and English £1 coin designs.
Now this is the last poll left to vote in until we find out which £1 coin is Britain’s all-time favourite design.
Please vote for your favourite £1 coin from the finalists in the below poll:
[polldaddy poll=”9721785″]
50p “Scarcity Index” Launched – discover which UK 50p coins are the most collectable
Can’t wait – click here to reveal the UK’s “scarcest” 50p coin
Change Checker has launched the 50p “Scarcity Index”, which tracks which circulating 50p coins are the most scarce and collectable.
The index uses a unique combination of mintage, collecting and swap data to give the most up-to-date picture of today’s 50p coin collecting market.
The top 5
There’s no surprise to find Kew Gardens at the top of the list. With a mintage of just 210,000, it is also the least owned and most requested swap. The next 4 scarcest coins are all from the 2012 Olympics – Football, Triathlon, Judo and Wrestling.
The recent Beatrix Potter 50p coins also rank highly, with Jemima Puddle-Duck and Squirrel Nutkin coming in at numbers 6 and 7 – based largely on their low level of ownership and high swap requests, as official mintages are yet to be confirmed by the Royal Mint.
Click here to see the full list
How the Scarcity Index works
Generally collectors have had to rely upon mintage figures to identify the scarcest coins. But they only tell part of the story. Trying to find a good quality coin from 15 – 20 years ago, even for a higher mintage issue, is much more challenging than a more recent issue, as coins become damaged over time and are ultimately removed from circulation.
Additionally, some designs are more hoarded than others by people who might not normally collect coins – the Beatrix Potter issues being a classic example. Finally, it can be up to a couple of years before the Royal Mint eventually confirms the actual mintage for an issue.
That’s why we have combined the mintage information with two other key pieces of information.
- How many of each design are listed as “collected” by Change Checkers, indicating the relative ease of finding a particular coin.
- The number of times a design has been requested as a swap over the previous 3 months, showing the current level of collector demand.
Importantly, as new coins are released and popularity rises and falls across different designs the Scarcity Index will be updated quarterly allowing Change Checkers to track the relative performance of the UK’s circulation coins.
How much are my coins worth?
The Scarcity Index does not necessarily equate to value but it is certainly an effective indicator. Whilst Kew Gardens 50p coins command prices on eBay of between £70 and £100, other coins towards the top of the scarcity index typically achieve a premium of roughly 10 – 12 times face value.
But don’t forget the joy of Change Collecting is that you have always have a chance of finding any one of these coins in your change – even Kew Gardens – you just have to be sharp-eyed.
What about £1 and £2 Coins?
The £1 Scarcity Index has already been published for the round £1 coins and, because they are no longer being issued, this is now set in stone. Change Checker will be releasing the £2 Scarcity Index later in April.
It looks like the round pound will be around for a little bit longer…
In 2017, the Isle of Man confirmed that they will be keeping the familiar round pound coin.
This makes them the only British Isles country to continue issuing round pounds…
The Isle of Man £1 Coin featuring two birds – a Raven and a Falcon
The 2017 design for the Isle of Man £1 coin features two birds – a Falcon and a Raven.
These birds are symbolically associated with the Island and feature on the Coat of Arms.
A Celtic interlocking border circulates the outside of the coin while the Triskelion (three armoured legs) features at the twelve o’ clock position.
In contrast, both Jersey and Guernsey have confirmed that they will stop striking the round £1 coin this year, opting to use the paper £1 note instead.
All change
Not only are the Isle of Man keeping the £1 coin, all their circulation coins have had a total redesign and been struck at a new Mint.
Here are a few of the new Isle of Man coins that were launched…
New Isle of Man Coins
5 Pence – Features the Manx Shearwater, an amber-listed species of particular conservation concern on the Isle of Man. This design celebrates the increasing number of this traditional Isle of Man bird species.
10 Pence – Features the famous Isle of Man Manx Cat, best known for being entirely tailless. The other distinguishing characteristics include elongated hind legs and a rounded head.
20 Pence – The Isle of Man has a significant Viking heritage; key symbols are Odin’s Raven and Viking Longships. The design depicts a typical scene of a sailing Viking Longship.
50 Pence – The design depicts the Manx Loaghtan, a breed of sheep native to the Isle of Man. The sheep have dark brown wool and usully four or occasionally six horns.
1 Pound – The £1 coin features two birds – a Raven and a Falcon. These birds are symbolically associated with the island and feature of the Isle of Man Coat of Arms.
2 Pound – Featuring the Tower of Refuge, this important landmark was built upon the reef on the orders of Sir William Hillary, founder of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution in 1832.
5 Pound – The Triskelion (three armoured legs) is arguably the most known symbol of the island and is included in both the coat of arms and the flag of the Isle of Man. The Isle of Man also circulates their £5 coins making them the only Crown dependency country where you could find one in your change, and spend it.
A new effigy
The new effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
And the changes didn’t stop there.
The coins also feature a new effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, created by designer and sculptor Jody Clark.
The outer description includes the Queen’s full title, country of issue and year of issue.
The new portrait will be used on coins from Crown dependencies and Commonwealth countries.
No new coppers
Although the Isle of Man have completely redesigned their circulation coins, they have not produced any new designs for the 1p and 2p coins. Instead they will continue to use their current stock.
Own the 2017 Isle of Man Triskelion Uncirculated £5 Coin
The Isle of Man is the only part of the British Isles to use a genuinely circulating £5 Coin and this coin has one of the lowest mintages for any British Isles circulation coin.
You can now own one in Certified Uncirculated condition for just £14.99.
Click here to secure your own set >>