1 Pound - Elizabeth II Flax and Shamrock Silver Proof (2014)

We have no sold price for this coin yet. This range is the middle of what 10 similar coins sold for as issued: the same denomination and metal, struck within 5 years. Treat it as a guide, not a valuation.

• 1 Pound - Elizabeth II 5th portrait – Royal Shield Silver Proof (2015) £39.02
• 1 Pound - Elizabeth II Leek and Daffodil – Silver Proof (2013) £30.04
• 1 Pound - Elizabeth II Oak and Rose – Silver Proof (2013) £31.17
• 1 Pound - Elizabeth II Royal Arms – Silver Proof (2015) £31.03
• 1 Pound - Elizabeth II Last Round Pound – Silver Proof (2016) £86.00

About the 2014 1 Pound - Elizabeth II Flax and Shamrock – Silver Proof

The 2014 1 Pound - Elizabeth II Flax and Shamrock – Silver Proof is a collector 1 pound coin in the Round Pound series, struck in 92.5% silver. It weighs 9.5g and measures 22.5mm across. Reverse design: Floral emblems of Northern Ireland, a flax and shamrock, denomination below.

2,153 were struck. It is no longer legal tender (withdrawn 2017), so its value is to collectors only.

Common questions

History and design

This is a collector version of the 1 Pound - Elizabeth II – Flax and Shamrock. The history below is that coin's; the mintage, varieties and collecting notes on its page do not apply to this strike.

The Northern Ireland coin closed the floral series of round pounds, four designs pairing the plant emblems of the home nations. England and Wales were issued in 2013, Scotland and Northern Ireland in 2014. It circulated beside the Royal Shield £1 of the same date.

The Royal Mint's figures give 5,780,000 struck for circulation. That is the highest of the four floral coins, ahead of England and Wales at 5,270,000 each and Scotland at 5,185,000, but small beside the 79,305,200 Royal Shield pounds dated 2014. Seven dated round £1 issues in the Mint's figures are lower.

It was among the last round pound designs. The 12-sided £1 arrived on 28 March 2017 and round pounds lost legal tender status at midnight on 15 October 2017.

Timothy Noad's reverse sets a flax plant against a shamrock. The Royal Mint described the two as facing each other, balanced in a "yin-yang" arrangement.

The Mint's release explains both plants. The shamrock is tied to St Patrick, who is believed to have used the three-leafed plant to explain the Holy Trinity. Flax, with its blue petals, was at the heart of Northern Ireland's linen industry. Because people from all backgrounds worked in linen, flax is seen as a symbol of unity, and it was adopted as the emblem of the Northern Ireland Assembly. It had already stood for Northern Ireland on the pounds of 1986 and 1991.

Noad said that in a series representing each country the motif on each coin must be "clearly recognisable" and keep within "the heraldic rules and conventions". The milled edge reads DECUS ET TUTAMEN, "an ornament and a safeguard". The obverse has the fourth portrait of Elizabeth II, by Ian Rank-Broadley.