2001 Celtic Cross and Torc £1 Coin
The 2001 Celtic Cross and Torc £1 is a circulating £1 coin with 64 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2001
- Circulation mintage
- 63,968,065
- 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 2001 Celtic Cross and Torc £1 worth?
With 64 million made, the 2001 Celtic Cross and Torc £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 2001 Celtic Cross and Torc £1 rare?
- No. 64 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2001 Celtic Cross and Torc £1 coins were made?
- 63,968,065 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 2001 Celtic Cross and Torc £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 2001 Celtic Cross and Torc £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 2001 Celtic Cross and Torc £1 was made
Northern Ireland's Celtic Cross and Torc design returned in 2001, five years after its 1996 debut. Norman Sillman's reverse brings together three symbols: a Celtic cross, the gold Broighter collar and a pimpernel. The Broighter collar is an Iron Age torc found at Broighter, near Limavady, in 1896. It stands among the best-known treasures of ancient Irish craftsmanship. Its presence makes this one of the most elaborate designs in the round pound series.
The 2001 coin carries Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of the Queen, the first time this reverse had appeared with that effigy. The Royal Mint struck 63,968,065 for circulation, a good-sized run though noticeably smaller than the 89,886,000 of 1996. Either way, both are common coins. This was the last time the Celtic Cross and Torc appeared. When Northern Ireland's turn came round again in 2006, the Egyptian Arch Railway Bridge from the bridges series took its place. The coin followed the normal round pound pattern: 22.5 mm wide, 9.5 g and nickel-brass with a lettered edge. Like every round pound, it was withdrawn from use on 15 October 2017.
How to recognize it
The reverse shows the Celtic cross with a pimpernel at its heart, set within the curved, decorated band of the Broighter torc, with ONE POUND beneath. Rank-Broadley's effigy of the Queen wearing a tiara fills the obverse, which is the easy way to tell 2001 from the 1996 coin with Maklouf's diadem portrait. On the edge you should find DECUS ET TUTAMEN, "an ornament and a safeguard", the Latin inscription shared by Northern Ireland, England and the United Kingdom designs. The design has a lot of fine knot and scroll work, so a well-struck coin should show it cleanly with no smudging between the lines.
The other side carries Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, used from 1998 to 2015.
2001 Celtic Cross and Torc £1 by the numbers
In mintage terms the 2001 Celtic Cross and Torc £1 ranks 29th lowest of 41 circulating £1 coins with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 2003 Royal Arms £1 (61.6 million); the next more common is the 1989 Thistle £1 (70.6 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1983 Royal Arms £1 with 443.1 million, about 6.9 times as many. The scarcest is the 2011 Edinburgh £1 with 935,000, 68 times fewer than this one.
It was the only circulating commemorative £1 coin dated 2001.
What to check on your 2001 Celtic Cross and Torc £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 nearly 64 million, the 2001 Celtic Cross is a common date and a circulated coin is face value. Date collectors need it but will have no trouble finding one. Sharp, unworn coins from the Royal Mint's 2001 sets are the ones worth putting aside. The design's busy detail is a good test for a counterfeit: genuine coins show crisp, separate lines in the torc pattern, while copies tend to look soft or muddy. Check that the edge lettering is clear and that the portrait has a sharp outline.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 1 pound |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2001 |
| Circulation mintage | 63,968,065 |
| 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 | Rank-Broadley |
Frequently asked questions
How many 2001 Celtic Cross pounds were made?
The Royal Mint struck 63,968,065 Celtic Cross and Torc pounds dated 2001 for circulation. That is fewer than the 89,886,000 of 1996, but both dates are common and worn examples are face value coins.
What is the difference between the 1996 and 2001 Celtic Cross pound?
The reverse is identical. The 1996 coin has Raphael Maklouf's portrait with the Queen in a diadem, while the 2001 coin has Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait with a tiara. Check the date and the effigy to tell them apart.
Mintage figures: One pound (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.