Sells regularly: 23 verified sales in the last 12 months.
1 Pound - Royal Mint Trial (2015)
"2015 12-sided £1 trial piece"
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Year | 2015 |
| Denomination | 1 Pound |
| Face value | £1 |
| Mint | Royal Mint · Llantrisant |
| Series | Round Pound Series |
| Circulation | Non-circulating |
| Demonetised | Yes |
| Composition | Bimetallic: copper-nickel center in nickel brass ring |
| Weight | 9.500g |
| Diameter | 23.0mm |
| Thickness | 2.80mm |
| Shape | Dodecagonal (12-sided) |
| Orientation | Medal alignment ↑↑ |
| Obv. artist | Ian Rank-Broadley |
| Grade scale | UK (EF/UNC) |
Fourth crowned portrait of Queen Elizabeth II facing right, wearing the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara, legend around
Royal Mint Logo encircling a crowned shield.
1 Pound - Royal Mint Trial market value
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Affiliate1 Pound - Royal Mint Trial price history
Daily limit reached1 Pound - Royal Mint Trial value by grade
Realised auction prices · ⭐ Pro Expand rows for individual sale records| Grade | Latest | Median | 30d Δ | All-time range | Sales (1yr) | Total sales | Last sale | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UNC | £21.50 🔒 eBay | £45.25 (2) | – | £21.50 – £380.00 | 2 | 3 | 19-08-2026 | |
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| BU | £50.00 🔒 | £50.00 (1) | – | £50.00 – £50.00 | 1 | 1 | 18-03-2026 | |
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| EF | £110.00 🔒 | £110.00 (1) | – | £110.00 – £110.00 | 0 | 1 | 03-12-2018 | |
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| VF | £30.86 🔒 eBay | £29.99 | – | £15.01 – £90.00 | 19 | 19 | 27-09-2026 | |
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| aUNC | £26.69 🔒 eBay | £26.69 (1) | – | £26.69 – £26.69 | 1 | 1 | 24-09-2026 | |
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About the 2015 1 Pound - Royal Mint Trial
The 2015 1 Pound - Royal Mint Trial is a collector 1 pound coin in the Round Pound series, struck in bimetallic: copper-nickel center in nickel brass ring. It weighs 9.5g and measures 23mm across. Reverse design: Royal Mint Logo encircling a crowned shield.
It is no longer legal tender, so its value is to collectors only.
Common questions
How much is the 2015 1 Pound - Royal Mint Trial worth?
Verified sold prices for the 2015 1 Pound - Royal Mint Trial run from £26.69 to £110 across 5 grades, taking the median for each grade. Condition makes the difference, so check the grade table above before pricing one.
What is the 2015 Royal Mint trial £1?
It is a 12-sided test piece, not a coin made for spending. The Royal Mint supplied trial pieces to businesses so that vending machines and other coin handling equipment could be calibrated before the new 12-sided £1 was introduced on 28 March 2017.
Is the 2015 trial £1 legal tender?
No, and it never was. As reported by Change Checker, the Royal Mint made clear that the trial pieces do not have legal tender status and have no redeemable value. It should not be confused with the round £1, which was legal tender until 15 October 2017.
How many 2015 trial £1 pieces were made?
The Royal Mint said it issued over 200,000 trial samples of the new £1 to industry. A reader of Check Your Change reported a Freedom of Information reply giving 234,586 for the 2015-dated piece. That exact figure has not been confirmed from a Royal Mint page.
How do I tell a trial £1 from a normal 12-sided £1?
The trial piece is dated 2015 and has the fourth portrait of the Queen by Ian Rank-Broadley, with the Royal Mint's name and the words TRIAL PIECE on the reverse. The 12-sided pounds first issued for circulation are dated 2016 and carry the Jody Clark portrait and the Nations of the Crown design.
Can I legally own a 2015 trial £1?
The Royal Mint's position, in a statement quoted by Paul Fraser Collectibles, is that the samples were issued under strict terms and conditions, remain its property at all times and should be returned. Examples have nonetheless been offered on auction sites.
How do I identify the 2015 1 Pound - Royal Mint Trial?
Check the weight 9.5g and diameter 23mm and the metal (bimetallic: copper-nickel center in nickel brass ring) against the specification table on this page. The reverse design is described above.
History and design
This is not a circulating coin. It is a trial piece: a 12-sided test token struck by the Royal Mint so that businesses could prepare for the new £1 that replaced the round pound on 28 March 2017. Check Your Change records that the 2015-dated pieces were made and distributed early in 2015 to companies involved in making or calibrating vending machines.
The Royal Mint told industry in 2016 that all coin handling equipment would need to be calibrated or upgraded for the new coin, and listed "samples provided to industry" among the steps already taken. As reported by Change Checker, the Mint said it had issued over 200,000 trial samples to industry stakeholders, and that the pieces have no legal tender status and no redeemable value.
The piece does not appear in the Royal Mint's circulating mintage figures. A Check Your Change reader reported a Freedom of Information reply giving 234,586 for the 2015-dated trial, a figure not confirmed from a Royal Mint page.
The piece has the 12-sided shape of the new £1. The obverse carries the fourth portrait of Elizabeth II by Ian Rank-Broadley and the date 2015. That is one clear difference from the 12-sided pounds that later entered circulation, which have the Jody Clark portrait.
The reverse does not show a coin design. It carries the Royal Mint's name with the words TRIAL PIECE, marking it as a test piece. The Nations of the Crown reverse by David Pearce appeared only on the finished coin.
Varieties and errors
Check Your Change lists three trial pieces for the new £1. Besides the 2015 piece there is a 2014-dated trial, first reported in early 2018, of which it says about 20,000 were made. There is also a piece pairing the trial reverse with a 2016-dated obverse. A Royal Mint reply quoted by a reader gives 1,000 of those, struck after a late request from a company for trial pieces.
Check Your Change also warns that ordinary 2016-dated £1 coins are often listed online as "trial" coins. They are not: 648,936,536 circulating pounds are dated 2016 in the Royal Mint's figures.
Collecting notes
Ownership is the main point to understand. In a statement quoted by Paul Fraser Collectibles, the Royal Mint said the samples were issued under strict terms and conditions, "remain the property of the Royal Mint at all times" and should be returned. Pieces have still been offered on auction sites, and Check Your Change makes the same point about ownership.
To identify one, check for the 2015 date, the Rank-Broadley portrait and the words TRIAL PIECE on a 12-sided piece.
The finished coin is the Nations of the Crown £1.
Sources
The history, design, varieties and collecting notes on this page are drawn from these sources. Prices come from recorded sales, not from them.
- UK coin mintage figures (data file), The Royal Mint (read 9 Oct 2026)
- £1 Coin Designs and Specifications, The Royal Mint (read 9 Oct 2026)
- 2015 One Pound, Check Your Change (read 9 Oct 2026)
- Change Checker blog post on the new £1 and the 2016 trial pieces (February 2017), Change Checker (read 9 Oct 2026)
- British 12-sided £1 coin makes £479, Paul Fraser Collectibles (read 9 Oct 2026)
- New rare one pound coins, Coventry Telegraph (read 9 Oct 2026)
- The six new £1 coin varieties, Check Your Change (read 9 Oct 2026)
- 2014 One Pound, Check Your Change (read 9 Oct 2026)
- The New £1 Coin: Delivering Industry Readiness (industry flyer, Issue 1, March 2016), The Royal Mint (copy hosted by John Gaunt) (read 9 Oct 2026)
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