Nations of the Crown £1 Coin (2016 to 2022)
The Nations of the Crown £1 is the everyday £1 coin reverse from 2016 to 2022. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2016 to 2022
- Circulation mintage
- 1,404,146,369
- Value band
- Face value
- Designer
- David Pearce
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 Nations of the Crown £1 worth?
The everyday Nations of the Crown £1 is worth face value in circulated condition. Only uncirculated coins from sets or with a genuine mint error bring a premium.
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 Nations of the Crown £1 rare?
- No. 1.4 billion were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many Nations of the Crown £1 coins were made?
- 1,404,146,369 were struck for circulation.
- Who designed the Nations of the Crown £1?
- The design is credited to David Pearce.
- What is the Nations of the Crown £1 made of?
- Bimetallic: nickel-brass outer ring, nickel-plated alloy center. It weighs 8.75 g and measures 23.43 mm, with a 12-sided shape.
- Is the Nations of the Crown £1 still legal tender?
- Yes. The 12-sided £1 coin is legal tender in the UK.
The story of the Nations of the Crown £1
The round pound had a weakness that grew worse every year: it was easy to fake. By 2014 the Royal Mint estimated that roughly one in thirty in circulation was counterfeit. That March, in his Budget, the Chancellor George Osborne announced a replacement, a 12-sided coin built from two metals with security features designed to defeat forgers. The Royal Mint called it the most secure coin in the world.
Its reverse was chosen through a public competition. The winner was David Pearce, a 15-year-old schoolboy from Walsall. His design, Nations of the Crown, shows the English rose, the Welsh leek, the Scottish thistle and the Northern Irish shamrock growing out of a royal coronet. The shape revived memories of the 12-sided brass threepenny bit that had disappeared with decimalization. The new pound entered circulation on 28 March 2017. For six and a half months the two coins circulated side by side, until the round pound stopped being legal tender on 15 October 2017.
The new coin is 23.43 mm across and weighs 8.75 g, with a gold-colored nickel-brass outer ring and a silver-colored nickel-plated inner disc. Security features include a latent image that switches between a £ symbol and the number 1 as you tilt the coin, very small micro-lettering on the inner rim and an edge with alternating milled and plain sections. Production was front-loaded: 300,000,000 coins dated 2016 were struck ahead of the launch, followed by 749,616,200 in 2017. After that the figures fell steadily as cash use declined, down to 7,735,000 in 2022, the last year of the design with the Queen's portrait. The design was used throughout with Jody Clark's portrait.
How to recognize it
David Pearce's reverse shows four plants rising from a royal coronet: a rose for England, a leek for Wales, a thistle for Scotland and a shamrock for Northern Ireland. The coin itself confirms what you have. It should have twelve sides, a gold-colored outer ring around a silver-colored center and an edge that alternates between milled and plain sections. Tilt the coin and the latent image should switch between a £ sign and the figure 1. Look closely at the inner rim for the tiny micro-lettering. The obverse carries Jody Clark's portrait of the Queen. That separates it from the Bees pound of King Charles III, which uses the same shape with a new design.
Over the run the other side carried the portraits of the monarch by Jody Clark, so the date and portrait together tell you which year you have.
Nations of the Crown £1 by the numbers
Across 7 circulation dates the Royal Mint struck 1.4 billion Nations of the Crown £1 coins. The biggest year was 2017 with 749.6 million; the smallest circulation year was 2022 with 7.74 million, about 97 times fewer.
What to check on your Nations of the Crown £1
- Check the security features: a latent image that switches between a £ symbol and the number 1 when tilted, very small lettering on the inner rim and a two-color design.
- Weigh it: a genuine 12-sided pound weighs 8.75 g and measures 23.43 mm.
Most dates are extremely common. The 2017 run alone was close to 750 million. The 2016 date passed 300 million, so these are face value coins in circulated condition. The later years are a different story. The 2021 date had 21,760,000 struck and the 2022 date just 7,735,000, the lowest of the design. Those are still plentiful coins, but 2022 is the one worth setting aside. Uncirculated examples of every year appeared in Royal Mint annual sets. Set coins have flawless surfaces and full luster, while coins from change show scuffs on the ring.
Nations of the Crown £1 mintage by year
| Year | Circulation mintage |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 300,000,000 |
| 2017 | 749,616,200 |
| 2018 | 130,560,000 |
| 2019 | 138,635,000 |
| 2020 | 55,840,169 |
| 2021 | 21,760,000 |
| 2022 | 7,735,000 |
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 1 pound |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 2016 to 2022 |
| Circulation mintage | 1,404,146,369 |
| Composition | Bimetallic: nickel-brass outer ring, nickel-plated alloy center |
| Weight | 8.75 g |
| Diameter | 23.43 mm |
| Shape | 12-sided |
| Edge | Alternating milled and plain sections |
| Designer | David Pearce |
| Portrait | Clark |
Other 2016 £1 coins
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 Shield of the Royal Arms £1 Coin | Collector issue | Small premium |
| 2016 Last Round Pound £1 Coin | Collector issue | Small premium |
Frequently asked questions
Who designed the 12-sided £1 coin?
David Pearce, who was 15 when his Nations of the Crown design won a public competition. It shows a rose, leek, thistle and shamrock growing from a royal coronet, one plant for each nation of the United Kingdom.
Which year of the 12-sided pound is the rarest?
Among the dates with the Queen's portrait, 2022 has the lowest circulation mintage at 7,735,000, followed by 2021 at 21,760,000. Both are still common enough to find in change, unlike the round pound's scarce capital cities coins.
When did the 12-sided pound come out?
It entered circulation on 28 March 2017. The round pound remained legal tender alongside it until 15 October 2017. Coins dated 2016 were struck before the launch, so the earliest date you will find is 2016.
Mintage figures: One pound (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.