1998 One Pound

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One £1 coin was issued in 1998. It uses the same reverse as the original 1983 coin but now has the new Ian Rank-Broadley portrait of the Queen. Apart from the date, this coin is identical to the 2003 £1 coin and one of the 2008 £1 coins.

Obverse Type 3 (bust design by Ian Rank-Broadley):

Reverse Type 1 (design by Eric Sewell):

Edge: DECUS ET TUTAMEN.

Mintage for Circulation: None. This coin was only issued in special Royal Mint packaging, numbers are likely to be in the 10s of thousands. Note that fakes of these exist with the correct reverse/date and edge lettering.

Collectability/Scarcity: 3 (for scale details see here)

The story behind the design:

The obverse portrait of the Queen by Ian Rank-Broadley was used on all UK circulated coinage from 1998 to 2014 and on many coins dated 2015. It was the fourth portrait of the Queen used on coinage.

The reverse design shows the United Kingdom Royal Arms by Eric Sewell. The edge inscription ‘DECUS ET TUTAMEN’ is Latin for ‘An ornament and safeguard’ and was originally used on coins so that the public could tell that the edge was complete, and therefore that the coin was of good weight (without clipped edges).

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