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One Pound

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.). more...

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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 and Guernsey, 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 December 2005 there were an estimated 1,452 million £1 coins in circulation.

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.

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. The winner, announced in April 2008, was Matthew Dent, whose designs were gradually introduced into the circulating British coinage from summer 2008. 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.

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.