The £1 coin – thirty years old and still going strong
Introduced in 1983, the £1 coin is one of our most popular coins largely due to its size and feel.
Whether routing through our purses, pockets or piggy banks, the one coin we’re always pleased to see is the £1. Incredibly, despite our reliance on plastic, phone payments and online banking, the £1 coin still plays a part in our daily lives, just as it did 30 years ago.
Why do most of us like it so much?
Introduced on 21st April 1983, the new £1 coin was an instant hit (although the Iron Lady herself, then PM, was said to dislike it). Big, bright and reassuringly chunky, it was built to last a lot longer than the paper pound note. A whole 40 years compared to a paltry nine months. It was also considered more practical for supermarket trolleys, parking meters and vending machines.
Not the real deal
Today there are an estimated one and a half billion £1 coins in circulation in the UK, according to The Royal Mint who struck them all. True to their word, original 1983 coins still turn up regularly in our change. On the down side, they’re easy to fake. It’s estimated that as many as 1 in every 35 are counterfeits.
Less for your money
During the last thirty years, the coin itself has had no less than 21 new reverse designs and 3 different portraits of the Queen. What it can actually buy you has also changed over time. According to the Office for National Statistics, a loaf of bread cost on average 38p in 1983. Thirty years later, that same loaf costs over three times as much. A pint of milk that was 21p back in ’83 has now more than doubled to 46p.
There have been changes to the way people pay for their shopping too. According to figures from the Payments Council, in the 1980s, cash accounted for 86% of payments in the UK, but by 2011 this had dropped to just 55%.
Whether the £1 coin will still be with us in another 30 years remains to be seen. For the time being though, it looks set to stay – a true British numismatics treasure.
US Silver Dollar becomes first ever coin to be sold for over $10m
The 1794 Silver Dollar is the first coin to smash through the $10m barrier
A rare 1794 Silver Dollar, thought to be among the first silver dollars ever struck by The US Mint, has set a new world-record by becoming the first ever coin to be sold for over $10 million.
The ‘Flowing Head’ was auctioned at Stack’s Bowers Galleries in New York earlier this year in front of a packed crowd of collectors, investors and dealers. Chairman David Bowers said the fact it was one of the first of its kind ever struck combined with its quality and scarcity helped to push up the price among bidders.
A new world record
The coin was eventually sold to Legend Numismatics for a record $10,016,875 –
the highest price ever paid for any coin – smashing the current record of $7,590,020 paid for a 1933 Double Eagle in 2002. A spokesman for the US-based company which specialises in rare coins said afterwards it had been prepared to bid even higher for such a rare piece of American numismatic history.
One of the finest of its kind
The record-breaking coin, one of the finest known, was part of the Cardinal Collection which includes some of the oldest and rarest American coins. It features a profile of Liberty facing right with stars around the edge representing US states, a design only used in 1794 and briefly in 1795.
Although the 1794 Silver Dollar was the highlight of the auction, the total amount made from the sale of rare coins topped almost $27m.
A selection of America’s most famous and iconic coins is available here.
Re-living the Dambusters’ Raid – exactly 70 years ago today
Just 495 Dambusters Anniversary Silver Coin Covers will be flown on board one of two surviving Lancaster bombers as part of tonight’s 70th anniversary memorial
16th May 2013 – the 70th anniversary of the Dambusters’ Raid – the exact moment when, on 16th May 1943, 617 Squadron set off from RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire under Wing Commander Guy Gibson to destroy the dams of Germany’s Ruhr Valley with their ‘bouncing bombs’.
As part of the official Battle of Britain Memorial, 495 specially designed Dambusters’ covers will be flown on board one of just two surviving Lancaster Bombers over Derbyshire’s Derwent Reservoir, part of Derwent Dam – an area used by the pilots for training.
RAF-approved
An Officially Approved Royal Air Force Commemoration, each cover features an original Dambusters’ stamp, postmarked with an exclusive cancellation dated 17th May, and an official 70th Anniversary Dambusters Coin struck in Solid 925/1000 Silver to the highest proof finish, its reverse enhanced with selective 24-Carat Gold-Plating.
Just 495 available
Due to the cover’s uniqueness and the fact that tonight’s flight will never be repeated, no more covers will ever be available once all 495 have been sold. The anniversary flight details on the reverse of each cover confirm it has been part of this historic Dambusters’ re-enactment.
Commemorate the Battle of Britain by securing one of these commemoratives – click here.