1 Pound - Elizabeth II 3rd portrait Celtic Cross (1996)

About the 1996 1 Pound - Elizabeth II – Celtic Cross

The 1996 1 Pound - Elizabeth II – Celtic Cross is a circulating 1 pound coin in the Round Pound series, struck in nickel brass. It weighs 9.5g and measures 22.5mm across. Reverse design: A Celtic cross charged at the centre with an annulet, therein a Pimpernel flower and overall an ancient Torque, denomination below.

89,886,000 were struck. It is no longer legal tender (withdrawn 2017), so its value is to collectors only.

Common questions

History and design

Each year's round £1 stood for the United Kingdom or one of its four nations. In the first cycle of designs Northern Ireland was represented by a flax plant, on the pounds of 1986 and 1991. For the heraldic cycle that began in 1994 it was given a Celtic cross, first struck in 1996.

The Royal Mint's figures give 89,886,000 struck for circulation. That is the largest issue of the four heraldic pounds with the Maklouf portrait, about three times the 29,752,525 of the 1994 Lion Rampant, and the ninth highest of the 41 round £1 entries in the Mint's figures. It is also far above either flax pound: 10,409,501 in 1986 and 38,443,575 in 1991.

The round pound was replaced by the 12-sided £1 from 28 March 2017 and lost its legal tender status at midnight on 15 October 2017.

The reverse is by Norman Sillman. The Royal Mint describes it as a Celtic cross with a pimpernel flower in the centre, surrounded by an ancient torc, representing Northern Ireland.

Sillman designed all four national coins of the heraldic series. A 2011 newspaper profile said each took him about four days, and that he had to be careful with the Northern Ireland design because of the delicate political and religious situation there.

The milled edge reads DECUS ET TUTAMEN, the Latin inscription of the first round pound, translated as "an ornament and safeguard". The Scottish and Welsh pounds had edge inscriptions of their own, but the Northern Ireland coins used this one. The obverse has Raphael Maklouf's portrait of Elizabeth II, which the Royal Mint lists for round pounds from 1985 to 1997.

Collecting notes

No recognised varieties or mint errors are documented for this coin.

With close to 90 million struck, the 1996 pound is easy to find and condition is what separates one example from another. Look for a clear flower at the centre of the cross, sharp detail on the torc and legible edge lettering.

The same reverse was struck again five years later with Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait, and that coin is catalogued separately as the 2001 Celtic Cross £1. Check the date and portrait before describing one as the other.

Round pounds can no longer be spent, though the Royal Mint says most high street banks will still take them as a deposit. The 1996 design was also issued for collectors as a silver proof and a silver piedfort. The English coin that followed it is the 1997 English Lions £1.