1 Pound - Elizabeth II 3rd portrait Northern Irish Flax (1986–1991)

One row for each year the 1 Pound - Elizabeth II 3rd portrait – Northern Irish Flax was struck. Prices are medians of verified sold listings matched to that year from the listing: circulated is worn condition up to Extremely Fine, uncirculated is About Uncirculated or better. A count in brackets means fewer than three sales behind the figure; a grey figure marked "type" is the median across every year, shown where that year has no sale of its own yet; years with no sales yet fill in as sales are recorded. Most types have been searched year by year only since October 2026, so later years are still filling in. Use the grade table below for a price by condition across all years.

About the 1986 1 Pound - Elizabeth II – Northern Irish Flax

The 1986 1 Pound - Elizabeth II – Northern Irish Flax is a circulating 1 pound coin issued from 1986 to 1991 in the Round Pound series, struck in nickel brass. It weighs 9.5g and measures 22.5mm across. Reverse design: A flax plant representing Northern Ireland, encircled by the Royal Diadem.

Mintage figures are recorded for 2 years between 1986 and 1991, 48,853,076 coins in all. 1986 is the scarcest date, with 10,409,501 struck. It is no longer legal tender (withdrawn 2017), so its value is to collectors only.

Common questions

History and design

The Flax £1 is the Northern Ireland coin in the first series of national round pounds, which the Royal Mint describes as taking floral emblems as its theme. It followed the Scottish Thistle of 1984 and the Welsh Leek of 1985, and came round again in 1991.

It was struck in much smaller numbers than the two coins before it. The Royal Mint's figures give 10,409,501 for 1986, against 146,256,501 for the 1984 Thistle and 228,430,749 for the 1985 Leek. That makes 1986 the lowest date of the floral series, and the second lowest of any round £1 dated before 2008: only the 1988 Crowned Shield, at 7,118,825, is lower. The 1991 issue was larger at 38,443,575.

The two dates total 48,853,076, the lowest of the four floral designs. Round pounds lost their legal tender status at midnight on 15 October 2017.

The reverse is by Leslie Durbin, who designed all four floral coins. The Royal Mint's description is a flax plant and royal diadem, representing Northern Ireland. As on the thistle and leek coins, the plant is combined with the diadem, the element common to all four designs.

Scotland and Wales were given their own edge mottoes in 1984 and 1985. The Flax coin went back to DECUS ET TUTAMEN, the Latin inscription of the first round pound, which Check Your Change translates as "an ornament and safeguard". The edge is milled. The obverse has Raphael Maklouf's portrait of Elizabeth II, which the Royal Mint lists for round pounds from 1985 to 1997.

Varieties and errors

No recognised varieties or mint errors are documented for this coin. Check Your Change records the 1986 and 1991 coins as identical apart from the date. The edge inscription can read either way up relative to the obverse: the Royal Mint says there is no right or wrong way, because the lettering is rolled onto the blank before the coin is struck.

Collecting notes

The date matters more on this coin than on most round pounds, since the 1986 mintage is under a third of the 1991 figure. Because the edge inscription is shared with the 1983, 1987 and 1988 coins among others, the edge will not identify a worn example: check the flax plant on the reverse and read the date on the obverse.

The design was also struck as a silver proof and a silver piedfort for collectors. The other Durbin coin with the same edge is the Oak £1, and the series began with the 1984 Thistle £1. Round pounds can no longer be spent, though the Royal Mint says most high street banks may still accept them for deposit.