STOP: the five £1 coins you must NOT cash in!

*** 2020 UPDATE ***

Three years since the old round pound coins were demonetised and replaced by the 12 sided £1, it’s been revealed that 122 million of these old coins still have not been returned to The Royal Mint.

Roughly 1.58 billion have found their way back to the Mint, but in addition to this, there have been at least 1.5 billion counterfeit round pounds handed in.

The Royal Mint said these fakes “could not be readily distinguished from the genuine coin, which is why a new coin was introduced”.

But, of the 122 million genuine round pounds still in circulation, which ones should you be looking out for?


In 2017, the Round £1 coins were demonetised and replaced by the new 12 sided coins we see today. The public were encouraged to spend or return their coins to the banks, but did you know that not all of these coins made it back to The Royal Mint?

Whilst these old coins are no longer legal tender, they can still be returned to the bank and deposited into you account, however there’s a few coins you definitely shouldn’t be cashing in if you’re lucky enough to find one (tip: try looking down the back of the sofa, in coat pockets or old supermarket bags for those lost and forgotten coins!).

Here are the ones to look out for:

Scotland: Edinburgh City

The Edinburgh City £1 Coin

The Edinburgh City £1 coin was released in 2011 with a mintage of just 935,000, making it the lowest Round Pound by 680,000!

Taking this into account, there’s no real surprise that this coin sits top of our Scarcity Index with a perfect score of 100.

Such is the rarity, only 17% of Change Checker users list having this coin in their collection.

This coin currently sells for between £7-£12.

Wales: Cardiff City

The Cardiff City £1 Coin

Another of the capital cities series, the Cardiff City £1 coin is definitely one to keep.

Released in 2011, this coin has a mintage of just 1,615,000 and is in 2nd position in our Scarcity Index with a very high score of 88.

This coin depicts the circular Coat of Arms of Cardiff as the principal focus to represent Wales.

This coin is worth between £3-£5.

England: London City

The London City £1 Coin

The 3rd coin from the capital cities series that you should hold on to is the London City £1 coin. Interestingly, the Belfast City coin does not make our list.

Released in 2010, this coin has a mintage of 2,635,000, much higher than Edinburgh and Cardiff but low in comparison to other £1 coins.

London City scores an impressive 77/100 in our Scarcity Index.

This coin can sell for between £3-£6.

Scotland: Thistle and Bluebell

Scotland: Thistle and Bluebell £1 coin

The Thistle and Bluebell £1 coin was released in 2014 as part of the floral emblems series.

It has a mintage figure of 5,185,000 and scores a 55 on our Scarcity Index, coming in 4th place.

This coin features a thistle alongside a bluebell to represent Scotland.

This is worth between £2-£5.

UK: Crowned Shield

UK: Crowned Shield £1 coin

The UK Crowned Shield £1 coin was released way back in 1988, only 5 years after the Round £1 came into circulation.

Although it has a relatively low mintage figure of 7,118,825, this coin makes the list due to some interesting Change Checker App data.

It scores a 51 in our Scarcity Index but less than 1/4 of Change Checker users list having this coin in their collection and swap requests outnumber swap listings by 6 to 1!

This coin will sell for between £3-£7.50.

It’s worth noting that our valuations are based on coins that have recently sold on auction sites. The value of a coin depends on a number of factors including the coin’s condition.


Own the 2017 Round £1 Collecting Pack

Secure your exclusive £1 Collector Pack today which includes Britain’s last round pound as well as an original £1 Banknote. Click here to order yours >>

Or take a look at the old round £1 coins and complete your collection here >>

£1 Coin Minting Error ‘Confirmed’

Rumours of the Dual-Dated £1 Coin appear to have been confirmed in the national press today.

Although we haven’t seen the coin ourselves, we’ve spoken to the collector claiming to be in possession of one and seen a number of images, leading us to believe that he has found a genuine error.

The error in question is a 12-sided £1 coin with two different dates – 2016 on the obverse and 2017 micro engraved on the reverse.

The Dual-Dated £1 feature the dates 2016 on the obverse and 2017 on the reverse

So, what everybody wants to know is, “what is this coin worth?”

At this stage it’s difficult to answer with any certainty. The error is very hard to spot with the naked eye and there is currently no indication as to how many of these error coins have been struck.

Probably the best example to compare it to is the 2008 undated 20p where there was an initial spike in interest and some coins sold for an inflated price in the thousands. However, this did settle down fairly quickly and today you’d expect to pick one of these up for between £50-75.

What is clear, is that this appears to be a genuine error and as such considerably more collectable than many of the mis-strikes and tampered with £1 coins that have recently appeared online.

Have you found a Dual-Dated £1 coin?

It looks like the round pound will be around for a little bit longer…

In 2017, the Isle of Man confirmed that they will be keeping the familiar round pound coin.

This makes them the only British Isles country to continue issuing round pounds…

The Isle of Man £1 Coin featuring two birds – a Raven and a Falcon

The 2017 design for the Isle of Man £1 coin features two birds – a Falcon and a Raven.

These birds are symbolically associated with the Island and feature on the Coat of Arms.

A Celtic interlocking border circulates the outside of the coin while the Triskelion (three armoured legs) features at the twelve o’ clock position.

In contrast, both Jersey and Guernsey have confirmed that they will stop striking the round £1 coin this year, opting to use the paper £1 note instead.

All change

Not only are the Isle of Man keeping the £1 coin, all their circulation coins have had a total redesign and been struck at a new Mint.

Here are a few of the new Isle of Man coins that were launched…

                                                                 New Isle of Man Coins 

5 Pence – Features the Manx Shearwater, an amber-listed species of particular conservation concern on the Isle of Man. This design celebrates the increasing number of this traditional Isle of Man bird species.

10 Pence – Features the famous Isle of Man Manx Cat, best known for being entirely tailless. The other distinguishing characteristics include elongated hind legs and a rounded head.

20 Pence – The Isle of Man has a significant Viking heritage; key symbols are Odin’s Raven and Viking Longships. The design depicts a typical scene of a sailing Viking Longship.

50 Pence – The design depicts the Manx Loaghtan, a breed of sheep native to the Isle of Man. The sheep have dark brown wool and usully four or occasionally six horns.

1 Pound – The £1 coin features two birds – a Raven and a Falcon. These birds are symbolically associated with the island and feature of the Isle of Man Coat of Arms.

2 Pound – Featuring the Tower of Refuge, this important landmark was built upon the reef on the orders of Sir William Hillary, founder of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution in 1832.

5 Pound – The Triskelion (three armoured legs) is arguably the most known symbol of the island and is included in both the coat of arms and the flag of the Isle of Man. The Isle of Man also circulates their £5 coins making them the only Crown dependency country where you could find one in your change, and spend it.

A new effigy

The new effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

And the changes didn’t stop there.

The coins also feature a new effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, created by designer and sculptor Jody Clark.

The outer description includes the Queen’s full title, country of issue and year of issue.

The new portrait will be used on coins from Crown dependencies and Commonwealth countries.

No new coppers

Although the Isle of Man have completely redesigned their circulation coins, they have not produced any new designs for the 1p and 2p coins. Instead they will continue to use their current stock.


Own the 2017 Isle of Man Triskelion Uncirculated £5 Coin

The Isle of Man is the only part of the British Isles to use a genuinely circulating £5 Coin and this coin has one of the lowest mintages for any British Isles circulation coin.

You can now own one in Certified Uncirculated condition for just £14.99.

Click here to secure your own set >>