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Your Guide to Britain’s Round Pounds!
The first UK £1 coin was issued in 1983 to replace the £1 banknote, which only lasted a few months in circulation! The £1 coin quickly became a hit with collectors, with everyone trying to hunt down the different designs…
£1 coins were initially issued in recurring five year programmes including series of designs representing the UK and the home nations.
After more than 30 years in the nation’s pockets, the familiar round £1 coin was replaced with an all new, 12-sided £1 coin in 2017 and it lost its legal tender status at midnight on 15 October 2017.
Despite this, some round pounds remain incredibly popular with collectors, due to their designs and their low mintages!
Round pounds over the years
Royal Coat of Arms
The first £1 coin design features the Royal Coat of Arms designed by Eric Sewell, a chief engraver at the Royal Mint. It also features the edge Inscription: DECUS ET TUTAMEN.
This coin was issued in 1983, 1993, 2003, 2008 and has a circulating mintage of 623,304,510.
Floral Emblems
The first reverse design series of £1 coins took floral emblems as its theme to represent the United Kingdom and its four constituent countries.
They were designed by Leslie Durbin – one of the most highly-regarded silversmiths of the 20th Century.
This series (pictured left to right) featured designs of a Scottish Thistle (1984 & 1989), Welsh Leek (1985 & 1990), Northern Ireland Flax (1986 & 1991), and the English Oak Tree (1987, 1992).
Of these coins, the Northern Ireland Flax has the lowest circulating mintage of 48,853,076.
1988 Royal Coat of Arms Crowned Shield
For the 6th year of the £1 coin, a Royal Coat of Arms design was introduced.
The first Royal Arms of England are attributed to King Richard I whose crest depicted three gold lions. Since then, the Coat of Arms has been adapted over centuries, and the reverse design of this coin displays the most modern version.
All coins dated 1988 feature this design, and 1988 was the only year it was used, making its mintage particularly low (just 7,118,825 were issued!)
Heraldic Emblems
The second series of £1 coin designs, by Norman Sillman used heraldic emblems to represent the United Kingdom and its four constituent countries.
From left to right, the series includes the Scottish Lion Rampant (1994), Welsh Dragon Passant (1995 & 2000), Northern Ireland Celtic Cross (1996 & 2001), and English Three Lions (1997, 2002).
The Scottish Lion Rampant has the lowest mintage in this series of £1 coins, with 29,752,525 entering circulation.
Bridges
The third series of £1 coin designs depicts bridges from each of the four constituent countries in the United Kingdom.
These coins were designed by Edwina Ellis (who later went on to design the incredibly popular 2019 Stephen Hawking 50p!) Pictured left to right, this series included the Scottish Forth Railway Bridge (2004), the Welsh Menai Bridge (2005), the Northern Ireland Egyptian Railway (2006), and the English Millennium Bridge (2007).
The English Millennium Bridge round pound has the lowest mintage of this series, with 26,180,160 entering circulation.
Royal Arms Shield
In 2008 a new reverse design for the £1 was issued featuring the Royal Shield of Arms – designed by Matthew Dent.
The edge inscription in Latin reads DECUS ET TUTAMEN which translates as; An Ornament and a Safeguard. This dates back to the first machine struck coins minted in 1662 and refers to the inscription itself which was intended to prevent people scraping valuable metal off the edge of the coin – a process known as ‘clipping’.
This coin was issued for eight consecutive years from its introduction in 2008.
This coin has a circulating mintage of 311,663,630.
Capital Cities
The fourth series of £1 coins used the capital cities of the four constituent countries as the basis of the reverse design.
They were designed by Stuart Devlin, who was also the Goldsmith and Jeweller to the Queen!
The designs of these coins (pictured left to right) feature Belfast City (2010), London City (2010), Cardiff City (2011) and Edinburgh City (2011).
These round pounds have lower mintages than any previous series, with the Edinburgh City £1 having a circulating mintage of JUST 935,000! The Cardiff City £1 is close behind with a mintage of 1,615,000.
Floral Emblem Pairs
The fifth series of £1 coin designs uses pairs of floral emblems, designed by Timothy Noad to represent the United Kingdom and its four constituent countries.
The coins in this series featured designs of (pictured left to right) English Rose and Oak Branch (2013), Welsh Daffodil and Leek (2013), Scottish Thistle and Bluebell (2014), and Northern Ireland Flax and Shamrock (2014).
The coin in this series with the lowest mintage is the Scottish Thistle and Bluebell, with 5,185,000 entering circulation.
The Floral Emblem Pairs were to be the last round pound series, with the final two round pounds being issued independent of each other.
2015 Royal Coat of Arms
In 2015 the Royal Mint revealed a new design for the Royal Arms £1 coin.
Timothy Noad’s contemporary adaptation of the traditional Royal Arms design is one of last commemorative designs to feature on the pound coin, as the newly shaped coin entered circulation in 2017.
This coin has a circulating mintage of 129,616,985.
2016 The Last Round Pound
This 2016 £1 coin is the final ‘round pound’ issued by the Royal Mint, calling time on a coin which was first issued more than thirty years ago.
The reverse design features the animals that represent each of the four constituent UK countries and was designed by Gregory Cameron.
This coin did not enter general circulation and is only available to buy in a Brilliant Uncirculated quality.
So hopefully our guide to Britain’s round pounds will help you along the way to expanding your collection!
What’s most exciting about these coins is that they’re not used in circulation anymore, which makes them particularly sought-after by collectors!
Do you have any of these coins in your collection? Let us know in the comments below!
Find, Collect, and Swap the coins in your change
If you’re interested in coin collecting, our Change Checker web app is completely free to use and allows users to:
– Find and identify the coins in their pocket
– Collect and track the coins they have
– Swap their spare coins with other Change Checkers
75th Anniversary of the End of the Second World War commemorated on BRAND NEW £5 coin!
2020 marks the 75 years since the end of the Second World War and in commemoration this brand new UK £5 coin has been issued, honouring the struggles and sacrifices made to achieve lasting peace.
Designers Matt Dent and Christian Davies have included the words ‘WAR’ and ‘PEACE’ on the reverse of this coin. This brand new £5 coin’s design was said to be inspired by stone war memorials, paying tribute to the millions of lives lost during the six years of conflict.
To mark this special anniversary, this £5 coin has been issued in a number of different specifications, including Brilliant Uncirculated quality for just £10.99 (+p&p).
Victory in Europe and Japan
Whilst Victory in Europe (VE) Day in May 1945 marked the start of the end of the war, in the Far East, Japan was yet to be defeated and the war raged on for three more months.
Atomic bombs were used by American forces, which largely destroyed the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6th and 9th and left devastating effects of nuclear radiation for decades to come.
Although he never used the word ‘surrender’, the Japanese emperor Hirohito announced on the 15th August 1945, that he had told his government to accept the demands of the Allies and thus, over Asia and the Pacific, Japanese troops began to lay down their weapons.
This announcement marked the official end to the Second World War for all countries and nations involved.
To celebrate the 75th anniversary of this day and the end of the Second World War, The Royal Mint have issued this brand new £5 coin to preserve the history of this momentous day for generations to come.
But this new release isn’t the only UK coin to commemorate past military conflicts or battles…
2020 UK Victory in Europe Day £2
Issued by The Royal Mint, this 2020 VE Day £2 features a woman holding a newspaper aloft in a crowd of celebrating people, set against a backdrop of the word VICTORY.
2020 marks a particularly poignant anniversary as we celebrate 75 years since Victory in Europe Day. Many celebrations had been scheduled to mark this joyous occasion, including rescheduling the Early May Bank Holiday to the 8th, but were not able to take place due to the pandemic.
In place of the big parties that were planned, people took to their doorsteps to sing and raise a glass over their fence with their neighbours!
The edge inscription of this coin reads ‘JUST TRIUMPH AND PROUD SORROW’ which is incredibly fitting for a coin which marks such a historic anniversary.
2019 D-Day Landings £2
D-Day was the largest seaborne invasion in history. It took place on 6th June 1944 and began the liberation of German-occupied France during WWII, laying the foundations of the Allied victory.
Designed by renowned Royal Mint engraver, Stephen Taylor, this coin was issued in 2019 to mark the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings. It features arrows each pointing across the English Channel to Normandy. Each arrow also has one of the code names used for each of the beaches where Allied troops landed – Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword.
This £2 coin is a timeless tribute to the thousands of Allied troops who fought tirelessly and sacrificed their lives to make the Normandy landings a success.
2015 Battle of Britain 50p
The Battle of Britain was an intense air battle fought mainly throughout the summer of 1940 between Germany and Britain. The name for the conflict was derived from a Winston Churchill speech in which he said “The Battle of France is over. I expect the Battle of Britain is about to begin”.
Ultimately it was a decisive victory for the RAF and Britain, and crucially it was the first time Germany had faced defeat in World War Two. The reverse design of this commemorative 50p depicts three airmen scrambling towards their planes.
This coin has a circulating mintage of 5,900,000.
2018 First World War (Armistice) £2
Armistice marked the start of the end of the First World War and the victory of the Allies on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918.
In 2018, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of this significant victory, The Royal mint issued this £2 coin. It was issued as part of a commemorative £2 coin series from 2014-2018 to mark the centenary of the First World War.
The reverse was designed by Stephen Raw and features the words ‘The truth untold, the pity of war’, from the Wilfred Owen poem Strange Meeting. The words stand out on a mud-like background in the centre of the £2.
2018 RAF £2 Series
The Royal Air Force was formed on April 1st 1918, in the early years of aviation. It was the world’s first independent air force, and is recognised today all over the world for its capability, courage and innovation.
In 2018, a series of £2 coins were issued, including the coin pictured above, commemorating the centenary of the RAF’s establishment.
Each stunning design features an iconic RAF aircraft, from the modern F35 Lightning to the famous Spitfire, with the first coin in the series being this £2 coin, which celebrates the Royal Air Force as a whole.
The reverse features a design by Rhys Morgan of the Badge of the RAF – an eagle flies in front of a circle inscribed with the official motto ‘Per Ardua Ad Astra’, which is Latin for ‘Through adversity to the stars’, with the Imperial Crown at the top.
If the popularity of previous military themed coins is anything to go by, we’re expecting this brand new £5 coin to be a firm favourite with collectors!
What’s your favourite military coin that you have in your collection? Let us know in the comments below.
Secure the BRAND NEW 2020 UK 75th Anniversary of the End of the Second World War £5 for JUST £10.99 (+p&p)
Mayflower £2 sails straight into the world of UK coinage with this BRAND NEW release!
To commemorate the 400th anniversary of the most-famous journey of the Mayflower, The Royal Mint has issued a brand new £2 coin.
2020 UK Mayflower £2
This year marks 400 years since the Mayflower set sail on its famous voyage from Plymouth, England to the ‘New World’ in 1620 – a key event in British history.
Issued initially in January as part of The Royal Mint’s 2020 Commemorative Coin Set, this £2 has JUST been individually released today!
Chris Costello’s reverse design of this coin depicts the Mayflower’s sails majestically billowing in the wind and the anniversary dates as an inscription – ‘1620-2020’.
This coin is available in a number of specifications, including Brilliant Uncirculated quality, for just £8.99 (+p&p)
Journey to the Unknown
In September 1620, a merchant ship called the Mayflower set sail from Plymouth, a port on the southern coast of England in hope of a fresh start.
102 Pilgrims and around 30 crew aboard the ship spent two months at sea, battling against the North Atlantic wind on their ground-breaking journey to America.
After a 66-day voyage, it first landed November 21 on Cape Cod at what is now Massachusetts.
There are an estimated 10 million living Americans and 35 million people around the world who are descended from the original passengers on the Mayflower.
To mark the 400th anniversary of this British vessel departing Plymouth, this £2 coin brings its history to life once more.
But, eagle-eyed collectors may recognise the iconic Mayflower ship from a previous £2 coin…
1994 Mayflower £2 Trial Piece
The UK’s first bi-metallic coin was issued for general circulation in 1997 but in order to prepare for the change over, a trial piece was struck, to test if tills and vending machines would accept it.
Featuring on the reverse design of this new style of coin, was none-other than the famous Mayflower ship!
Issued in a special presentation pack, the 1994 Mayflower Trial £2 was housed next to samples, demonstrating the different stages of its production.
Just over 4,500 of these packs were issued, making the 1994 Mayflower Trial £2 coin incredibly rare, especially if you compare this to the rarest £2 coin in circulation, the 2002 Commonwealth Games Northern Ireland £2, which has a mintage of 485,500!
But the Mayflower £2 coins aren’t the only UK nautical themed coins we’ve seen…
2011 Mary Rose £2
This £2 coin was in 2011 issued to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the launch of the Mary Rose.
The Mary Rose was a ship built and completed at Portsmouth Harbour in 1511 for Henry VIII and named after his favourite sister, Mary Tudor. It was the pride and joy of England’s Royal Navy but in 1545 it met with a tragic end whilst leading an attack against a French invasion fleet in the Solent.
For reasons still not concluded, the Mary Rose listed to one side and sank with the loss of all but 35 men…
It has a mintage of JUST 1,040,000, making it one of the rarest £2 coins in circulation!
2015 First World War (Navy) £2
In 2014. The Royal Mint announced a new five-year First World War commemoration £2 coin series. This £2 coin was the second coin in this series, issued in 2015, and pays tribute to the Royal Navy.
At the time, it was by far the most powerful navy in the world, and was a major asset to Britain in defending coastal waters against the Germans.
Renowned military artist David Rowlands designed the reverse of this coin, and it features a battleship approaching on the open sea.
It has a circulating mintage of JUST 650,000, making it particularly scarce and hard to come by! So, consider yourself very lucky if you have this coin in your collection!
Captain Cook £2 Series
This £2 coin series first stared in 2018 to celebrate the 250th Anniversary of the famed British Explorer, Captain Cook, setting sail on his legendary Voyage of Discovery.
Cook’s pioneering expedition for the ‘Great South Land’ expanded our understanding of the world beyond known horizons and 250 years on is being celebrated with this unique £2 coin series.
His famous ship, HM Bark Endeavour features on the design and, just like a secret map, when all three coins in the collection are placed together the design can be seen as a whole!
You can find out more about this incredible series here!
2005 Trafalgar £5 Coin
One of the greatest landmarks in British history, the Battle of Trafalgar was fought on 21st October 1805.
The Battle of Trafalgar was won by the Royal Navy, commanded by Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, over the combined French and Spanish fleets.
The Royal Mint marked the bicentenary of this battle with two £5 coins. The first of these designs by Clive Duncan, shows Nelson’s flagship ‘Victory‘ leading the fleet into battle.
HMS Victory is in service to this day as the flagship of the Commander-In-Chief, moored in Portsmouth dockyard!
Let us know in the comments below if you have this £5 coin in your collection!
We’re very excited by the release of this brand new £2 coin and we’re sure collectors will be sailing this coin straight into their collections!
Are there any other nautical success stories or significant historical moments that you’d like to see celebrated on UK coinage? Let us know in the comments below!
Secure the BRAND NEW Mayflower £2 in the CUSTOM Change Checker Display Card for just £10.99 (+p&p)
