£1 Coins
Do you own the rarest UK coins in circulation?
Earlier this year I made some charts about Britain’s rarest circulating coins. They proved really popular on our Facebook page, so I thought I’d bring them all together for you here in one blog post.
How many of these rare coins do you have in your collection?
There were only 485,500 Northern Ireland 2002 Commonwealth Games £2 coins minted, that’s just 0.1% of all the £2 coins ever struck to date!
The rarest £1 coin is the 2011 Edinburgh design. Could it be worth something one day?
Olympic 50ps have long been a favourite amongst collectors, but did you know there are only 1,125,500 Football fifty pence pieces? It’s definitely the rare one to look out for!
Last but definitely not least, the Kew Gardens 50p steals the show. Just 210,000 were struck and they made headlines earlier in the year when a handful reached a valuation of over £100 on eBay – surely making them some of Britain’s most valuable circulating coins (for now at least!)
So remember to keep checking your change – you just might own one of the UK’s rarest coins!
If you’ve found some of the coins mentioned in these charts, why not list them in your online collection at www.changechecker.org – you can even swap with your fellow Change Checkers to complete your collection!
Designing the new £1 – my top 5…
To coincide with the introduction of a brand new style of £1 coin, the Treasury have opened a national public contest to find the very first design. So I thought I’d pick out 5 of my favourite designs which have graced the reverse of our pound coins over the last 30 years.
1) Floral Emblems
The Welsh Leek £1
In 1984 the first themed £1 coins were introduced with a series of floral emblems. I’ve singled out the Welsh Leek because it features an edge inscription written in the Welsh language – a rare break from the traditional Latin. PLEIDIOL WYF I’M GWLAD is inscribed around the edge of each coin, which translated means ‘True am I to my country”. The design was struck in two years; 1985 and 1990.
2) Heraldic Emblems
The Heraldic Emblem £1 for Northern Ireland
The heraldic emblems series followed in 1995 with some familiar national symbols. The interesting one for me is the Northern Irish design which features a Broighter Collar. The Broighter collar was discovered in 1896 amongst a hoard of gold Iron Age artefacts in Northern Ireland, and is said to be the finest example of Irish La Tène goldworking in Europe. It’s a subtle and commonly overlooked feature of this reverse design.
3) Bridges
The Millennium Bridge features on this 2007 £1 coin
A change of tack from the Royal Mint in 2004 with iconic bridges from each country being chosen as the subject matter. The bold architectural shape of the Gateshead Millennium Bridge makes for an impressive reverse design and I think it’s the pick of the bunch. Interestingly the bridge itself is the world’s first tilting bridge and won a number of awards for its design and lighting. Each of the bridge coins were only struck in one year, this one is dated 2007.
4) Capital Cities
The rarest £1 in circulation is this Edinburgh design
The four capital cities of the United Kingdom was the next theme introduced in 2010 with the Coat of Arms for Belfast, London, Cardiff and Edinburgh featuring as the principal focus of each design. The Edinburgh design is of the most interest to collectors, because it is currently the rarest £1 design in circulation. Less than 1 million were struck, and it is often the only one which eludes even the keenest of Change Checkers.
5) The Royal Arms
This crowned Royal Arms Shield was only struck in 1988
Of course, in addition to all these commemorative themes are the definitive designs which have followed the same trend since the inaugural pound coin of 1983. Each one features the Royal Arms Shield of the United Kingdom, combining all four of the constituent countries. Look out for this one on the left with the crowned shield. Unlike the others, it was only struck in one year – 1988 – so is a bit more trick to find. Chances are it will also be a bit worse for wear after 26 years in circulation!
So when the new £1 does enter circulation in 2017, what will it look like? We already know that it will look radically different from the existing coin, but will its design follow a similar trend to those of the past? The extreme change in the coin’s shape may give rise to a similarly extreme rethink in its design, but one thing is for certain – it will forever be a truly significant moment in British numismatic history.
Own the rare Edinburgh £1 coin in silver
Our friends at the Westminster Collection have a small number of the rare Edinburgh design available in silver.
3d to a £1 – the rebirth of Britain’s most popular coin design
This month our current £1 coin will be scrapped in favour of a newer design, which will be far more difficult to counterfeit.
George Osborne tweeted this photo of the brand new £1 coin
The new design
Back in 2014, George Osborne tweeted an image of himself holding one of these new and improved £1 coins.
But it wasn’t the supposed high-tech security features and new bi-metallic design that caught my eye, it was the 12-sided shape, which has so clearly been reprised from the famous quarter shilling or thrupenny bit.
Mind you, the pronunciation of “thruppeny” depended very much on which part of the country you were from. It varied from “throop-ence” to “thrupp-ence,” or as the Queen probably said, “threpp-ence.” Likewise in conversation, people referred to it as a “throop-nee”, “thrupp-nee” or “threpp-nee” bit.
“Suitably British,” is how Royal Mint’s Director of Circulation describes the new £1 coin, and no wonder with a pedigree like that.
Divided Opinion
The new 12-sided design found popularity during World War II
Initial reaction to the new £1 has been mixed, but history has shown that a bit of early scepticism is inevitable.
When the thrupenny was first introduced in a 12-sided design in 1937, its radical shape courted a lot of hostility, particularly from men who feared the numerous edges would wear down their trouser pocket linings.
This nickel-brass version was an upgrade of the old silver threepence or “Joey” which was very small and easily lost.
This was the coin traditionally used in Christmas puddings. The silver threepence continued to be minted for a while, perhaps because the Mint was unsure whether the new coin would be accepted.
Rise in popularity
During Edward VIII’s brief era 12 coins in the new design were struck for experimental purposes and sent to a slot machine manufacturing company for testing. The whereabouts of six of those 12 are known. However, the other six are still out there somewhere and their rarity commands very high prices. An example was sold at auction in 2013 for £30,000. The mystery surrounding them remains a well-told coin collector’s story.
The 12-sided coin design grew on the British public. It found popularity during the Second World War when its distinctive size and shape made it the easiest coin to recognise during blackouts. In 1943, 103,000 were minted. When Queen Elizabeth II came to the throne, the threepenny was the very first coin to bear her portrait, and by the time of decimalisation, 1.2 billion had been issued for circulation.
Critics argue that the £1 design is merely the Chancellor’s attempt to appeal to the patriotism and nostalgia of a key section of the electorate. Regardless of his intentions, this new-look retro £1 could yet find its way into the hearts of the British public.