1 Pound - Elizabeth II 3rd portrait Royal Arms (1993)

About the 1993 1 Pound - Elizabeth II – Royal Arms

The 1993 1 Pound - Elizabeth II – Royal Arms 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: Royal Shield of Arms above denomination.

114,744,500 were struck. It is no longer legal tender (withdrawn 2017), so its value is to collectors only.

Common questions

History and design

Ten years after the first round pound, the Royal Mint reused its design. The 1983 coin had shown the Royal Arms for the United Kingdom, and the years since had gone to the four nations' floral emblems (twice each) and to a one-year shield design in 1988. For 1993 the United Kingdom's turn came again and Eric Sewell's Royal Arms returned.

The Royal Mint's figures give 114,744,500 struck for circulation. That is the fifth highest of the 41 round £1 date and design entries in the Mint's list, and the largest issue since 1985, though only about a quarter of the 443,053,510 struck in 1983. The heraldic series that began the next year started far lower, with 29,752,525 of the 1994 Lion Rampant.

Round pounds were replaced by the 12-sided £1 from 28 March 2017 and lost their legal tender status at midnight on 15 October 2017.

The reverse is the Royal Arms by Eric Sewell, whom Change Checker describes as a chief engraver at the Royal Mint. The Mint lists the design for five dates: 1983, 1993, 1998, 2003 and 2008. It should not be confused with the Shield of the Royal Arms designs of 1988 (Derek Gorringe) and 2008 onwards (Matthew Dent).

The milled edge reads DECUS ET TUTAMEN, as in 1983. Check Your Change translates this as "an ornament and safeguard" and explains that edge lettering was originally a way for the public to tell that a coin's edge was complete and had not been clipped.

The obverse is what sets 1993 apart. The Royal Mint lists Arnold Machin's portrait for round pounds of 1983 and 1984, Raphael Maklouf's for 1985 to 1997 and Ian Rank-Broadley's from 1998. So 1993 is the only date on which the Royal Arms reverse is paired with the Maklouf portrait.

Varieties and errors

No recognised varieties or mint errors are documented for this coin. Coins on which the edge lettering is inverted relative to the obverse are normal production. The Royal Mint says the inscription is put on the blank before striking and it is not possible to make every coin come out the same way round.

Collecting notes

This is a common coin, so buy on condition. Look for clean detail across the Royal Arms and an edge that reads clearly all the way round. A collector building the Royal Arms design by portrait needs three coins: the 1983 Royal Arms £1 with Machin's portrait, this one, and the later issues catalogued as the Royal Arms £1 of 1998 to 2008.

The design was also struck in 1993 as a silver proof and a silver piedfort. The coin can no longer be spent, though the Royal Mint says most high street banks may still accept round pounds for deposit.