1993 Royal Arms £1 Coin
The 1993 Royal Arms £1 is a circulating £1 coin with 114.7 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1993
- Circulation mintage
- 114,744,500
- Value band
- Face value
- Composition
- Nickel-brass (70% copper, 24.5% zinc, 5.5% nickel)
Original illustration of the coin's shape and metal. Tap to flip. Not a picture of the actual design.
Face value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is a 1993 Royal Arms £1 worth?
With 114.7 million made, the 1993 Royal Arms £1 is common. It has no collector value beyond the pound itself. Since 15 October 2017 the round pound can no longer be spent in shops. Only uncirculated coins from sets, genuine errors and the scarce dates bring more.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with crisp edge lettering
- Original Royal Mint pack or set
- A genuine mint error confirmed by an expert
For market prices, look at recent sold results for the same coin in the same condition, not asking prices.
Quick answers
- Is the 1993 Royal Arms £1 rare?
- No. 114.7 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 1993 Royal Arms £1 coins were made?
- 114,744,500 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 1993 Royal Arms £1 made of?
- Nickel-brass (70% copper, 24.5% zinc, 5.5% nickel). It weighs 9.5 g and measures 22.5 mm.
- Is the 1993 Royal Arms £1 still legal tender?
- No. The round pound stopped being legal tender on 15 October 2017. It can no longer be spent in shops; collectors still want the scarce dates.
Why the 1993 Royal Arms £1 was made
Ten years after the round pound arrived, the United Kingdom slot in the rotation brought back the design that started it all. The 1993 coin repeats Eric Sewell's ornamental royal arms from 1983. It was the first time that original reverse had reappeared, since 1988 had used a different crowned shield. Bringing back the 1983 arms set a pattern: the same design would also be used in 1998, 2003 and 2008. Only the Royal Shield introduced in 2008 appeared in more years.
The Royal Mint struck 114,744,500 for circulation in 1993. That puts it fourth in the round pound mintages up to 2007, after 1983, 1985 and 1984. Unlike the 1983 coin, it pairs the royal arms with Raphael Maklouf's portrait of the Queen. It was a busy period for British coin design in general, with commemorative 50p and £2 pieces appearing around this time, but the round pound itself kept its steady annual rotation through the nations. The physical coin was unchanged: 22.5 mm wide, 9.5 g and nickel-brass with a lettered edge.
How to recognize it
Sewell's reverse shows the full royal arms with lion and unicorn supporters and a crown above, with ONE POUND beneath. The difference from 1983 is on the obverse, where Maklouf's portrait shows the Queen in the George IV State Diadem. The 2003 version has Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait instead, so the 1983, 1993 and 2003 coins each have a different effigy. The edge carries DECUS ET TUTAMEN, Latin for "an ornament and a safeguard". If the arms have no supporters and simply show a crowned shield, you are holding the 1988 coin rather than this one. On a well-preserved 1993 coin the harp and the lions within the shield should be distinct rather than merged into a blur.
The other side carries Raphael Maklouf's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, used from 1985 to 1997.
1993 Royal Arms £1 by the numbers
By the numbers, the 1993 Royal Arms £1 ranks 37th lowest of 41 circulating £1 coins with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 2000 Dragon £1 (109.5 million); the next more common is the 2015 Royal Arms £1 (129.6 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1983 Royal Arms £1 with 443.1 million, about 3.9 times as many. The scarcest is the 2011 Edinburgh £1 with 935,000, 123 times fewer than this one.
It was the only circulating commemorative £1 coin dated 1993.
What to check on your 1993 Royal Arms £1
- Read the edge. It should say DECUS ET TUTAMEN; an edge that doesn't match the design is the quickest sign of a fake.
- Turn the coin over on its vertical axis: on a genuine pound the design side is the same way up as the portrait. A tilted or upside-down reverse points to a copy.
- Weigh it: a genuine round pound weighs 9.5 g. Fakes are often light, soft in detail or a slightly different color.
- Remember that round pounds stopped being legal tender on 15 October 2017, so a common one has no use in shops.
At over 114 million, the 1993 Royal Arms is very common and circulated coins are worth face value. Collectors filling a date run will find it easily. The interest lies in unworn examples, particularly those from Royal Mint annual sets, which also included the 1993 pound. Circulated coins tend to lose detail on the crown and the unicorn's head first. Fakes of every common design turned up in change before 2017, so look for crisp lettering, even milling and a clean, sharp portrait. A coin that looks too yellow or too coppery next to a genuine pound needs a second look.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 1 pound |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 1993 |
| Circulation mintage | 114,744,500 |
| Composition | Nickel-brass (70% copper, 24.5% zinc, 5.5% nickel) |
| Weight | 9.5 g |
| Diameter | 22.5 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Lettered: DECUS ET TUTAMEN |
| Portrait | Maklouf |
Frequently asked questions
Is the 1993 £1 coin valuable?
Not usually. With 114,744,500 struck for circulation it is one of the most common round pounds. Worn coins are face value. A pristine example from a 1993 Royal Mint set appeals to date collectors but is not a rarity.
How can you tell a 1993 Royal Arms pound from a 1983 one?
Look at the portrait. The 1983 coin has Arnold Machin's effigy with the Queen wearing a tiara, while the 1993 coin has Raphael Maklouf's effigy with a diadem. The reverse and the DECUS ET TUTAMEN edge are the same.
Mintage figures: One pound (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.