2015 Royal Arms £1 Coin
The 2015 Royal Arms £1 is a circulating £1 coin with 129.6 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2015
- Circulation mintage
- 129,616,985
- 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 2015 Royal Arms £1 worth?
With 129.6 million made, the 2015 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 2015 Royal Arms £1 rare?
- No. 129.6 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2015 Royal Arms £1 coins were made?
- 129,616,985 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 2015 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 2015 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 2015 Royal Arms £1 was made
When Jody Clark's new portrait of the Queen was introduced in 2015, the Royal Mint gave the round pound a new reverse to go with it. Timothy Noad, the heraldic artist who had designed the floral emblem pounds, produced a version of the full Royal Coat of Arms. It was the last new circulating design the round pound would ever receive.
It was also struck in enormous numbers. The Royal Mint made 129,616,985 for circulation, far more than any shield year and the largest figure for any round pound in this group. Part of the reason was simple demand. Another was the need to keep good coins flowing while forged pounds were still common and the 12-sided replacement was still being prepared. All that production had a short life ahead of it. The new pound entered circulation on 28 March 2017. The round pound ceased to be legal tender on 15 October that year. Huge numbers of these 2015 coins were returned to banks within two years of being struck.
How to recognize it
Timothy Noad's reverse shows the full Royal Coat of Arms, with the shield supported by the lion and the unicorn and the crown above it, along with the denomination ONE POUND. That fuller arrangement separates it from Matthew Dent's plain shield. The obverse carries Jody Clark's portrait of the Queen wearing the diadem, signed JC, with the date 2015. The edge reads DECUS ET TUTAMEN. A coin with this reverse and Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait would be a mismatch worth checking closely, because the design was introduced with the new portrait. Genuine examples always pair Noad's arms with Clark's JC signature, so read the initials under the neck before anything else.
The other side carries Jody Clark's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, introduced in 2015 and the last of her reign.
2015 Royal Arms £1 by the numbers
Measured by how many were made, the 2015 Royal Arms £1 ranks 38th lowest of 41 circulating £1 coins with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 1993 Royal Arms £1 (114.7 million); the next more common is the 1984 Thistle £1 (146.3 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1983 Royal Arms £1 with 443.1 million, about 3.4 times as many. The scarcest is the 2011 Edinburgh £1 with 935,000, 139 times fewer than this one.
2015 brought 1 other circulating £1 coin design: the Shield of the Royal Arms (29.6 million). The 2015 Royal Arms £1 was the most plentiful of the year.
What to check on your 2015 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 nearly 130 million, the 2015 Royal Arms is the most common coin in this group. A circulated example has no collector premium, though it is a good keepsake as the last circulating design of the round pound. Brilliant uncirculated examples appeared in Royal Mint annual sets. If you are checking a coin for authenticity, look at the fine detail in the supporters and crown, which is hard for forgers to reproduce. Also check the edge lettering, the color and whether the reverse sits squarely upright when you turn the coin over.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 1 pound |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2015 |
| Circulation mintage | 129,616,985 |
| 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 | Clark |
Other 2015 £1 coins
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 Shield of the Royal Arms £1 Coin | 29,580,000 | Face value |
| 2015 Shield of the Royal Arms £1 Coin (Sets Only) | Collector issue | Small premium |
Frequently asked questions
Who designed the 2015 Royal Arms pound?
Timothy Noad designed the reverse, a full version of the Royal Coat of Arms. The obverse carries Jody Clark's portrait of the Queen, introduced in 2015. It was the final new circulating design for the round pound.
How many 2015 Royal Arms £1 coins were made?
The Royal Mint struck 129,616,985 for circulation. That is the largest circulation mintage of any round pound in this group, so a worn one is a very common coin with no special rarity.
Mintage figures: One pound (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.