Poll: What is your favourite £1 Coin Design? – Northern Ireland

n-i-one-pound-coinsAs part of the Great One Pound Coin Race, we want to find out Britain’s ultimate favourite £1 coin.

Last week we asked you to vote for your favourite Scottish £1 coin design – over 30% of Change Checkers voted for the 2011 Edinburgh £1.

This week we want to know your favourite Northern Irish £1 coin design.

Let us know by voting in our poll below:


More information about the Northern Ireland £1 coin designs

N.I: Flax

The N.I Flax £1 was issued in 1986 and 1991.

 

The first reverse design series of £1 coins took floral emblems as its theme to represent the United Kingdom and its four constituent countries. They were designed by Leslie Durbin – one of the most highly-regarded silversmiths of the 20th Century. The Flax plant is used on this coin to represent Northern Ireland.

 

N.I: Celtic Cross

The N.I Celtic Cross £1 was issued in 1996 and 2001.

 

The second series of £1 coin designs used heraldic emblems to represent the United Kingdom and its four constituent countries. This coin features the Broighter collar over a Celtic Cross to represent Northern Ireland. The Broighter collar was discovered in 1896 amongst a hoard of gold Iron Age artefacts near Lough Foyle in Northern Ireland, and is said to be the finest example of Irish La Tène goldworking in Europe.

 

N.I: Egyptian Railway Arch Bridge

The N.I Egyptian Railway Arch Bridge £1 was issued in 2006.

The third series of £1 coin designs depicts bridges from each of the four consituent countries in the United Kingdom. This coin features the Egyptian Arch Railway Bridge to represent Northern Ireland. The Egyptian Arch is a railway bridge in Newry, Northern Ireland which gained its name from its resemblance to the headdress worn by ancient Egyptian Pharaohs.

 

N.I: Belfast City

The Belfast City £1 was issued in 2010

 

The fourth series of £1 coins used the capital cities of the four constituent countries as the basis of the reverse design. Designed by Stuart Devlin, Goldsmith and Jeweller to the Queen, this coin depicts the circular Coat of Arms of Belfast as the principal focus to represent Northern Ireland.

 

N.I: Flax and Shamrock

The Flax and Shamrock £1 was issued in 2014

 

The fifth series of £1 coin designs uses pairs of floral emblems designed by Timothy Noad to represent the United Kingdom and its four constituent countries. This coin features a flax alongside a shamrock to represent Northern Ireland.

Next week- Part 4: What’s your favourite Welsh £1 coin design?


last-round-pound-cc-packaging-banner-330x330This could be your last chance to secure Britain’s last ’round pound’.

If you want to get your hands on the last ‘round pound’ they are available here protectively encapsulated and certified as superior Brilliant Uncirculated quality. 

21 tips to complete your Great One Pound Coin Race

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The Race is on… 

You’ve only got until 15 October to find all 24 circulating £1 coin designs.  And after the new 12-sided £1 Coin is released on 28 March, it will get harder as banks start to replace the £1 coins they receive with the new 12-sided £1 coin.

So that’s why we’ve put our heads together to give you 21 Top Tips to complete your Great One Pound Coin Race in time.

  1. Check your change drawer / change pot
  2. Ask friends and family
  3. Go to the bank and change notes to £1 coins
  4. Swap with the Change Checker web app – changechecker.org
  5. Befriend the local corner shop / launderette owner and ask them for their £1 coins
  6. Arcade / bingo change machines
  7. Pay with a note and round up with loose change to maximise your £1 coin change
  8. Look for Facebook swap groups
  9. Raid your children’s piggy banks (and replace them with notes!)
  10. Look for abandoned supermarket trolleysunknown-4
  11. Check down the back of the sofa
  12. Check old handbags
  13. Set up a lottery syndicate and collect the payments in round £1 coins
  14. Have a bake sale – everything a round £1 coin
  15. Offer to count up any collections and swap out the £1 coins for notes
  16. Car boot sale – everything is “One Round Pound”
  17. Pay car park charges in notes and receive the change in coins
  18. Check any tips your friends might be leaving at restaurants
  19. Always carry some £1 coins with you so you can swap any time you see a good one
  20. Check gym lockers
  21. Try to build a collection as a group – e.g. a school class – 30 Change Checkers are better than 1!

Win a Gold-plated Participant’s Medal

 

Do you have any more tips?

We’ll be giving away some special 24-Carat Gold Plated Great One Pound Coin Participant’s Medals to the best ideas.  Simply comment below with your top tip.

 

How to enter the Great One Pound Coin Race

If you haven’t started your Great One Pound Coin Race yet, it’s not too late.  Simply click here to enter today and you too could own a complete collection of £1 coins direct from your change before they’re gone for ever.