2002 Three Lions £1 Coin
The 2002 Three Lions £1 is a circulating £1 coin with 77.8 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2002
- Circulation mintage
- 77,818,000
- 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 2002 Three Lions £1 worth?
With 77.8 million made, the 2002 Three Lions £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 2002 Three Lions £1 rare?
- No. 77.8 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2002 Three Lions £1 coins were made?
- 77,818,000 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 2002 Three Lions £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 2002 Three Lions £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 2002 Three Lions £1 was made
England's Three Lions design returned for 2002, the year of the Queen's Golden Jubilee marking fifty years on the throne. Norman Sillman's heraldic reverse, first used in 1997, shows the three lions passant guardant that have stood for England since the reign of Richard I. The repeat coin pairs the design with Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait, which had replaced Maklouf's effigy across the coinage in 1998.
The 2002 run was larger than the first. The Royal Mint struck 77,818,000 for circulation against 57,117,450 for the 1997 coin. It was also the final coin of Sillman's heraldic national series, which had covered Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England between 1994 and 2002. When England's turn came round again in 2007, the Gateshead Millennium Bridge from the bridges series took its place. The 2002 coin kept the usual round pound specification of 22.5 mm, 9.5 g and nickel-brass with a lettered edge. With such a large mintage, it is one of the round pounds most likely to be found in an old coin jar today.
How to recognize it
Sillman's three lions walk one above another, heads turned to face the viewer, with ONE POUND below. The obverse carries Rank-Broadley's portrait of the Queen in a tiara, which separates this coin from the 1997 version with Maklouf's diadem portrait. England's Latin edge, DECUS ET TUTAMEN, is the same one used in 1997. The Scottish Lion Rampant is the design most often confused with this one, but it shows a single upright lion inside a decorative border. On a good 2002 coin each lion's mane, claws and tail should be clearly defined. Those small details are the first to soften with wear.
The other side carries Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, used from 1998 to 2015.
2002 Three Lions £1 by the numbers
In mintage terms the 2002 Three Lions £1 ranks 31st lowest of 41 circulating £1 coins with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 1989 Thistle £1 (70.6 million); the next more common is the 2014 Shield of the Royal Arms £1 (79.3 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1983 Royal Arms £1 with 443.1 million, about 5.7 times as many. The scarcest is the 2011 Edinburgh £1 with 935,000, 83 times fewer than this one.
It was the only circulating commemorative £1 coin dated 2002.
What to check on your 2002 Three Lions £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.
Close to 77.8 million were struck, so the 2002 Three Lions is plentiful and circulated examples are face value. Unworn pieces from the 2002 Royal Mint sets are the ones collectors want, but even those are not rarities. Because it was so widely used, this is a date where checking for fakes makes sense. Hold the coin edge-on and read the lettering: on a genuine coin it is cut sharply into the milling. Then compare the lions' heads and the portrait with another genuine pound. Soft, flat detail is a common sign of a copy.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 1 pound |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2002 |
| Circulation mintage | 77,818,000 |
| 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
Is the 2002 Three Lions £1 coin rare?
No. The Royal Mint struck 77,818,000 for circulation, so it is one of the more common round pounds. A worn example is face value. Only unworn coins from Royal Mint sets attract any collector interest and they are easily found.
What was the last coin in the Norman Sillman pound series?
The 2002 Three Lions. Sillman's four heraldic designs ran from 1994 to 2002, with each nation's coin appearing twice. After the 2003 Royal Arms, the bridges series took over the national slots from 2004.
Mintage figures: One pound (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.