One pound

United Kingdom
Value	1.0 pound sterling
Mass	9.5 g
Diameter	22.5 mm
Thickness	3.15 mm
Edge	Milled with incuse lettering or decoration
Composition	70% Cu, 24.5% Zn, and 5.5% Ni
Years of minting	1983–present
Catalog number	–
Obverse
Design	Queen Elizabeth II
Designer	Ian Rank-Broadley
Design date	1998
Reverse
Design	Royal Shield
Designer	Matthew Dent
Design date	2008

The circulating British one pound (£1) coin is minted from a nickel-brass alloy of approximately 70% copper, 24.5% zinc, and 5.5% nickel. The coin weighs 9.50 grams (0.34 oz) and has a diameter of 22.50 millimetres (0.89 in.).^[1]

The coin was introduced on 21 April 1983 to replace the Bank of England one pound note, which ceased to be issued at the end of 1984 and was removed from circulation (though still redeemable at the Bank's offices) on 11 March 1988. One pound notes are still issued in Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, and by the Royal Bank of Scotland, but the pound coin is much more widely used. It was given the nickname "round pound" on introduction, although this term did not remain in common use.

As of March 2008 there were an estimated 1,452 million £1 coins in circulation.^[2]

Designs

The £1 coin has the standard obverse designs used on all contemporary British coins, namely the effigy of Queen Elizabeth II by Arnold Machin in 1983 and 1984, by Raphael Maklouf between 1985 and 1997, and by Ian Rank-Broadley since 1998. All have had the inscription ELIZABETH II D G REG F D date.

Uniquely amongst modern British coinage, the £1 coin has a mint mark: a small crosslet found on the milled edge that represents Llantrisant in South Wales, where the Royal Mint has been based since 1968.^[3]

An interesting feature of this denomination is that the design of the reverse of the coin changed each year between 1983 and 2008 to show, in turn, an emblem representing the UK, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and England, together with an appropriate edge inscription. The inscription ONE POUND appears at the bottom of all reverse designs before April 2008.

In August 2005 the Royal Mint launched a competition to find new reverse designs for all circulating coins apart from the £2 coin.^[4] The winner, announced in April 2008, was Matthew Dent, whose designs were gradually introduced into the circulating British coinage from summer 2008.^[5] The designs for the 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p and 50p coins depict sections of the Royal Shield that form the whole shield when placed together. The new £1 coin design features the shield in its entirety, representing the UK as a whole. The inscription ONE POUND appears on either side of the emblem.

The reverse designs are as follows.

	1983, 1993, 2003 & 2008: Ornamental royal arms. Edge inscription: DECUS ET TUTAMEN ("An ornament and a safeguard" – originally on 17th century coins, this refers to the inscribed edge as a protection against the clipping of precious metal. The original appearance of the phrase is attributed to an epic poem by Virgil — "viro decus et tutamen in armis" (Aeneid, Book V, L. 262), describing a piece of armour, a breast-plate interwoven with gold, which was awarded as a prize to Mnestheus.) Designed by Eric Sewell.[6]
	1984 & 1989: Thistle sprig in a coronet, representing Scotland. Edge inscription: NEMO ME IMPUNE LACESSIT ("No-one provokes me with impunity" – the Latin motto of the Order of the Thistle).
	1985 & 1990. Leek in a coronet, representing Wales. Edge inscription: PLEIDIOL WYF I'M GWLAD ("True am I to my country" – from the chorus of the Welsh National Anthem).
	1986 & 1991: Flax in a coronet, representing Northern Ireland. Edge inscription: DECUS ET TUTAMEN.
	1987 & 1992: Oak tree in a coronet, representing England. Edge inscription: DECUS ET TUTAMEN.
	1988: Crown over the Royal coat of arms. Edge inscription: DECUS ET TUTAMEN.
	1994: Lion Rampant within a double tressure flory counter-flory, representing Scotland. Edge inscription: NEMO ME IMPUNE LACESSIT.
	1995 & 2000: Dragon Passant representing Wales. Edge inscription: PLEIDIOL WYF I'M GWLAD.
	1996 & 2001: Celtic cross, Broighter collar and pimpernel, representing Northern Ireland.[7] Edge inscription: DECUS ET TUTAMEN.
	1997 & 2002: Three lions passant guardant, representing England. Edge inscription: DECUS ET TUTAMEN.
	1998: As 1983. Issued in collectors' sets only, not for circulation. 1999: As 1994. Issued in collectors' sets only, not for circulation
	2004: Forth Bridge (Scotland). Obverse: Rank-Broadley head, inscription ELIZABETH II D G REG F D 2004, starting below, IRB directly under the bust. Encircled by dots. Reverse: Forth Rail Bridge, ONE POUND below. Encircled by a railway line. Edge: Two overlapping lines, one curved and one angular, reminiscent of the shape of the bridge.
	2005: Menai Suspension Bridge (Wales). Obverse: Rank-Broadley head, inscription ELIZABETH II D G REG F D 2005, starting below, IRB directly under the bust. Encircled by dots. Reverse: Menai Suspension Bridge, ONE POUND below. Encircled by a truss. Edge: Two overlapping lines, one curved and one angular.
	2006: MacNeill's Egyptian Arch at Newry (Belfast–Dublin railway line, Northern Ireland). Obverse: Rank-Broadley head, inscription ELIZABETH II D G REG F D 2006, starting below, IRB directly under the bust. Encircled by dots. Reverse: MacNeill's Egyptian Arch, ONE POUND below. Encircled by a truss. Edge: Two overlapping lines, one curved and one angular.
	2007: Millennium Bridge, Newcastle/Gateshead (England). Obverse: Rank-Broadley head, inscription ELIZABETH II D G REG F D 2007, starting below, IRB directly under the bust. Encircled by dots. Reverse: Millennium Bridge, ONE POUND below. Encircled by a truss. Edge: Two overlapping lines, one curved and one angular.
	2008 onwards: The shield from the Royal Coat of Arms. Obverse: Rank-Broadley head, inscription ELIZABETH II D G REG F D 2008, starting below, IRB directly under the bust. Reverse: The Royal Shield, ONE and POUND either side of the shield. Edge inscription: DECUS ET TUTAMEN.
	2010: Coat of Arms of the City of London. [8] Obverse: Rank-Broadley head, inscription ELIZABETH II D G REG F D 2010, starting below, IRB directly under the bust. Reverse: Circular Coat of Arms of the City of London, LONDON above at top, ONE and POUND around each side of the Shield. Small Coats of Arms of the other 3 capital cities of the UK in the intended set along bottom (left to right; Cardiff, Belfast and Edinburgh) Edge inscription: DOMINE DIRIGE NOS ("Lord, guide us." – the Latin motto of the City of London).
	2010: Coat of Arms of Belfast. [9] Obverse: Rank-Broadley head, inscription ELIZABETH II D G REG F D 2010, starting below, IRB directly under the bust. Reverse: Circular Coat of Arms of Belfast, BELFAST above at top, ONE and POUND around each side of the Shield. Small Coats of Arms of the other 3 capital cities of the UK in the intended set along bottom (left to right; Edinburgh, London, Cardiff) Edge inscription: PRO TANTO QUID RETRIBUAMUS ("For so much, what shall we give in return?" – the Latin motto of Belfast).

All years except 1998 and 1999 have been issued into circulation, although the number issued has varied enormously – 1983 and 1984 in particular had large mintages to facilitate the changeover from paper notes, while some years such as 1986 and 1988 are only rarely seen (although 1988 is more noticeable as it has a unique reverse). Production since 1997 has been reduced, thanks to the introduction of the circulating two pound coin.

Mintages

• 1983 ~ 443,053,510
• 1984 ~ 146,256,501
• 1985 ~ 228,430,749
• 1986 ~ 10,409,501
• 1987 ~ 39,298,502
• 1988 ~ 7,118,825
• 1989 ~ 70,580,501
• 1990 ~ 97,269,302
• 1991 ~ 38,443,575
• 1992 ~ 36,320,487
• 1993 ~ 114,744,500
• 1994 ~ 29,752,525
• 1995 ~ 34,503,501
• 1996 ~ 89,886,000
• 1997 ~ 57,117,450
• 1998-1999 ~ none
• 2000 ~ 109,496,500
• 2001 ~ 63,968,065
• 2002 ~ 77,818,000
• 2003 ~ 61,596,500
• 2004 ~ 39,162,000
• 2005 ~ 99,429,500
• 2006 ~ 38,938,000
• 2007 ~ 26,180,160
• 2008 ~ 3,910,000 (1983 design)
• 2008 ~ 29,433,000 (New Matthew Dent design)
• 2009 ~ 7,820,000 ^[10]

Counterfeiting

Comparison of legitimate and counterfeit £1 coins, with the fake on the top.

A Royal Mint survey in January 2009 estimated that 2.58% of all £1 coins in circulation are counterfeit. This represented a considerable increase, up from 2.06% a year earlier, with the highest level of counterfeits being in Northern Ireland (3.6%) and London and the South East (2.97%) and lowest in Northwest England.^[11] Some estimates place the figure closer to 5%.^[12] An earlier survey in 2006 gave an estimate of 1.7%, which itself was nearly twice as many as earlier estimates.^[13][14]

In July 2010 it was reported that there were so many counterfeit pound coins in circulation (approx 2.81% or about 1 in 36) that the Royal Mint were considering removing the current £1 coin from circulation and replacing it with a new design^[15]. Bookmakers Paddy Power offered odds of 6/4 (bet £4 to make £6 profit) that the £1 coin would be removed from circulation^[16].

One common method of detecting counterfeits (if the sound of the coin on a table or the colour of the metal doesn't indicate something suspicious) is to check whether the reverse matches the edge inscription for the alleged year – it is extremely common for counterfeiters to get this wrong.^[17] Also, the writing on the edge may be in the wrong font and look very poor (see image), and the coins often generally look much less sharp and defined, lacking intricate details. Most counterfeit £1 coins in circulation are made of brass, and most lead copies are easy to spot and are quickly removed from circulation.

The Swazi lilangeni is minted from the same planchets as the British pound coin, and hence has the same chemical constitution, diameter, and mass.^[18] The lilangeni, however, is worth significantly less: the 2008 exchange rate is around 14 emalangeni to the pound. This has enabled it to be used for vending machine fraud, and payment fraud in situations where the receiver is unlikely to closely examine the coins.^[19]

Further reading

In an April 1993 The New Yorker article 'Real Britannia', Julian Barnes describes the meetings to choose the 1994–1997 reverse designs.^[20] This is reprinted in his book Letters from London as 'Britannia's New Bra Size'.

See also

• Pound sterling
• Banknotes of the pound sterling
• Coins of the pound sterling
• Coin counterfeiting

References

External links

• Royal Mint – £1 coin
• Coins of the UK – Decimal £1 coin
• Counterfeit £1 coin examples

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