Posts Tagged ‘Northern Ireland’
Poll: What is your favourite £1 Coin Design? – Northern Ireland
As part of the Great One Pound Coin Race, we want to find out Britain’s ultimate favourite £1 coin.
Last week we asked you to vote for your favourite Scottish £1 coin design – over 30% of Change Checkers voted for the 2011 Edinburgh £1.
This week we want to know your favourite Northern Irish £1 coin design.
Let us know by voting in our poll below:
More information about the Northern Ireland £1 coin designs
The N.I Flax £1 was issued in 1986 and 1991.
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. The Flax plant is used on this coin to represent Northern Ireland.
The N.I Celtic Cross £1 was issued in 1996 and 2001.
The second series of £1 coin designs used heraldic emblems to represent the United Kingdom and its four constituent countries. This coin features the Broighter collar over a Celtic Cross to represent Northern Ireland. The Broighter collar was discovered in 1896 amongst a hoard of gold Iron Age artefacts near Lough Foyle in Northern Ireland, and is said to be the finest example of Irish La Tène goldworking in Europe.
N.I: Egyptian Railway Arch Bridge
The N.I Egyptian Railway Arch Bridge £1 was issued in 2006.
The third series of £1 coin designs depicts bridges from each of the four consituent countries in the United Kingdom. This coin features the Egyptian Arch Railway Bridge to represent Northern Ireland. The Egyptian Arch is a railway bridge in Newry, Northern Ireland which gained its name from its resemblance to the headdress worn by ancient Egyptian Pharaohs.
The Belfast City £1 was issued in 2010
The fourth series of £1 coins used the capital cities of the four constituent countries as the basis of the reverse design. Designed by Stuart Devlin, Goldsmith and Jeweller to the Queen, this coin depicts the circular Coat of Arms of Belfast as the principal focus to represent Northern Ireland.
The Flax and Shamrock £1 was issued in 2014
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. This coin features a flax alongside a shamrock to represent Northern Ireland.
Next week- Part 4: What’s your favourite Welsh £1 coin design?
This could be your last chance to secure Britain’s last ’round pound’.
If you want to get your hands on the last ‘round pound’ they are available here protectively encapsulated and certified as superior Brilliant Uncirculated quality.
The Great One Pound Coin Race Starts Today – just 250 days to own a complete £1 Coin Collection
You have just 250 days to collect all 24 Round £1 Coin Designs.
They’ve been a part of our lives for 33 years but the Round Pound Coin will be withdrawn from circulation forever on the 15th October this year.
Starting from today, we’re encouraging collectors across the UK, to join the biggest race of its kind ever held – The Great One Pound Coin Race.
It’s totally FREE to enter the Race and by entering you’ll be able to:
- Collect all 24 circulating £1 coins direct from your change
- Receive collecting tips and suggestions to help you complete your One Pound Collection
- Track your progress with the Change Checker web app or on your FREE downloadable £1 Coin Race Sheet
- Swap coins online with other collectors to help complete your collection
- Win exclusive Gold-plated One Pound Coin Race Participant’s Medals
- Receive exclusive participant’s discounts and savings
33 Years of Round £1 Coins. 24 Designs. Gone in 250 days.
The first £1 coin was issued in 1983
The first £1 coin entered circulation right back in 1983 and featured the Royal Coat of Arms as its design. It was quickly followed the next year with a Scottish thistle design, followed by the Welsh leek, Northern Irish flax and the English oak in subsequent years.
In total 24 different designs have entered circulation with five different series representing the component countries of the UK. The remaining four designs have all been variations on the theme of the Royal Coats Arms. A final, twenty-fifth Round Pound Coin was issued by The Royal Mint in 2016 but it never entered general circulation.
Scarce £1 Coins still available for face value in your change
Of course some £1 coins are much rarer than others. It’s partly because mintages of the different designs vary vastly, from less than 1 million coins to over 300 million. But that’s only part of the story. Older issues are also often more difficult to find, especially in good condition.
The 3 lowest mintage £1 coins come from a series of UK Capital Cities issued in 2010/11
The three lowest mintage £1 coins in circulation come from a series of UK Capital City coins issued in 2010/11, with Edinburgh being the rarest with a mintage of 935,000 coins – just 0.04% of all the £1 coins ever struck.
But it’s still possible to find even these rare coins in your change along with all of the other 21 circulation £1 coins. But only for the next 250 days.
Once the 15 October has passed, you will have little chance of building a complete collection of £1 Coins at anything like their face value. So …
on your marks…
Get set…
Go…
The Great One Pound Coin Race is on. Start your race today, before it’s too late.