Round pound, launched in 1983, will make way for new 12-sided £1 coin with banknote-strength security

The last of the “round pound” coins are rolling off the presses this month, making way for their new-look replacement.

More than 2.2 billion circulating round £1 coins have been struck during the 32 years they have been in use. From early 2017, a new 12-sided £1 coin will be brought into circulation.

Replacing £1 notes, the round coins were first launched on 21 April 1983 – the Queen’s birthday – and pound coins dating back to that year can still be found in people’s change today.

There have been 24 different circulating reverse designs on the £1 coin since its introduction.

Royal Mint coin press setter John Jones, who was working in the circulating coin production team at the time of the launch, said: “We were really proud when we got the £1 business – it was a feather in our caps to be striking it. Prince Charles came to strike the first one, and we all lined up to watch him arrive.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest John Jones handles unminted £1 coins which will become some of the final round pound coins to be produced. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA

While the new coin, which has a gold-coloured outer ring with a silver-coloured centre, will be reminiscent of the pre-decimalisation “threepenny bit”, it will incorporate cutting-edge security features to combat counterfeiters. Around 3% of current £1 coins are fake.



As well as a “bi-metallic” construction similar to the existing £2 coin, the new coin will feature new banknote-strength security pioneered at the Royal Mint’s headquarters in Llantrisant, south Wales.

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Adam Lawrence, the chief executive of the Royal Mint, said: “The end of the round £1 is a significant chapter in the Royal Mint’s 1,000-year history, and I’m sure that many in Britain who have grown up with the familiar round coin will experience a certain amount of nostalgia when the last one comes off the presses.

“The Royal Mint is constantly looking to the future, however, so, whilst the round £1 has served us well, it is time to turn our attention to the new £1 that in time will be used by millions of people in Britain and become equally well-recognised across the world.”