Comparing coins from the whole British sterling area

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The pound sign.

So many pound coins but so few pound signs. How many pound coins show the pound sign? So far, only five.







Since 1985 the reverse of the Guernsey pound coin shows a detail from the pound note.
But the coin also spells out the denomination in words. So really it's just a picture of a pound sign.
Does that count? It depends on your point of view.




Another coin to show the pound sign was Ireland's - except the Irish called it the punt.




The UK 12-sided pound coin, issued in 2017, does include the pound sign - but only as a latent image.




British Antarctic Territory issued a collector-only 12-sided bimetallic pound coin in November 2020.




The Falkland Islands plans to issue a 12-sided bimetallic pound coin in 2021.

See: Falkland Islands to introduce new 1 pound coin

Do you know of any others?

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"£2" or "TWO POUNDS" ?

As of 2011, only 6 two pound coins have used "£2" in the legend.



Jersey uses "TWO POUNDS" on the obverse but "£2" appears in the latent image on the reverse.



Guernsey uses both figures and words on the reverse of its two pound coin.



In 2002 the UK issued four special two pound coins to commemorate the Commonwealth Games, one for each constituent country of the UK. The one above shows the flag of England. Each coin showed the denomination in figures but not words. These coins were, up to that date, the only UK 2-pound coins not to include the denomination in words. All other UK two pound coins carried the denomination in words only.

Or do you know of any others?

[<k>]

You're not keeping up, Penguin-eaters. Pay attention in class!

I found a collector coin with the £2 symbol.

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Alone of all the sterling area entities, the Falkland Islands produced a non-standard 2 pound coin.
It was issued in 1999 and was non-standard because it was 38.6 mm in diameter - crown-sized, actually.
Also, it featured Maklouf's uncouped version of the Queen's portrait.





The circulation version of the Falkland 2 pound coin was issued in 2004.

See also: Falkland Islands: 2 pound coin types of 1999, 2003 and 2004.

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2 pound coin, 2009.

BIOT's second issue was a silver and blue crystal collector coin.

It illustrated the Life of the Turtle.

It won the 2010 COTY (Coin of the Year) prize for Most Innovative Coin.


Probably the most unusual 2 pound coin of all.

Would our penguin-eaters regard it as bimetallic because of its crystal centre?

[Deeman]

I found a collector coin with the £2 symbol.

The Angel Wings 2021 cupro-nickel companion issued by SGSSI has a value of 50p.
You can now embark on a search for other '50p' values <k>.

[<k>]

'p' as in 'pee'? A naughty abbreviation. Or is the pee silent, as in 'swimming pool' ?

Is it the lone example of this abbreviation? I think the Irish coins did it too, actually.

[eurocoin]

The Christmas 50 pence coins of the Isle of Man issued from 2011 up to and including 2014 also depict the denomination in the form of '50p'.

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Thank you, penguin-eater eurocoin.

[<k>]

Which sterling area entities have NOT issued a bimetallic 2 pound coin (either collector or circulation). Ascension Island; St. Helena (though St.Helena-Ascension has); Tristan da Cunha; and Alderney. Are you reading this, Pobjoy, Tower? Good. 

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Styles and titles.



The coins of the UK are different from those of the other parts of the sterling area.

The obverse legend contains abbreviations in Latin.

Also, there is no reference to the country of origin on the coins.

The legend translates as: Elizabeth II, by the grace of God: Queen and Defender of the Faith.

The final title refers to her position as Head of the Church of England.



Until the end of 1984, Guernsey used a Norman French legend on the obverse of its coins.

Instead of a portrait of the Queen the state coat of arms was depicted.

However, since 1985 Guernsey has used a portrait of the Queen on the obverse of its coins.

And the coin legends are now in English.



Guernsey's obverse legend, like the UK's, includes the words "ELIZABETH II".



Gibraltar initially followed the same pattern as Guernsey: "ELIZABETH II".



From 2012 to 2016, Gibraltar used the legend "ELIZABETH II QUEEN OF GIBRALTAR".



Since 2017, Gibraltar uses the legend "ELIZABETH II · D · G · REGINA · GIBRALTAR".



From 1971 to 1979 the Isle of Man's coins referred to "ELIZABETH THE SECOND".



From 1980 onwards, the Manx coins refer to "ELIZABETH II"".

However, their one pound coins did not do so until 1988.



The legend on the Manx coins issued since 2017 reads: "QUEEN ELIZABETH II • ISLE OF MAN".



Jersey always uses the word "QUEEN" in the legend and spells out "THE SECOND" in full.



The legend on the coins of the Falkland Islands initially fell into the same pattern as that of Jersey, above.



The Falkland Islands issued a new set in 2019 with an amended legend (left).

The 5 pence alone (right) had yet a different legend.



St Helena and Ascension use the word "QUEEN" in their legend but do NOT spell out the "THE SECOND".

Could somebody tell us about the styles and titles on the collector coins of Alderney, BAT, BIOT, SGSSI, and TDC?

We have already seen that TDC sometimes actually uses the abbreviation TDC on its coins.

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We have seen how the Falkland Islands issued a crown-sized bimetallic 2 pound coin in 1999. This was a collector coin only.









The circulation version of the Falkland 2 pound coin, with a slightly amended reverse design, was issued in 2004.

See also: Falkland Islands: 2 pound coin types of 1999, 2003 and 2004.







St. Helena and Ascension had a similar experience. It issued a monometallic 2 pound coin in 2002.







In 2003 St. Helena and Ascension issued a circulation bimetallic version of the 2 pound coin.

[<k>]

NEW pence or not?



When the UK went decimal, the legend on its coins included the word "NEW".

This indicated that these were decimal pence, and not the old predecimal pence. 

The word "NEW" appeared on the UK's decimal coins from 1968 to 1981 inclusive.

See also: The "Illegal" 50p and the Death of "NEW PENCE".



The word "NEW" appeared on the Isle of Man's decimal coins from 1971 to 1975 inclusive.



The word "NEW" appeared on Guernsey's decimal coins from 1968 to 1976.

Guernsey dropped the word "NEW" from its coins in 1977.

The only Guernsey coins with "NEW" were dated 1968, 1969, 1970 and 1971. 

No coins dated 1972 to 1976 inclusive were struck in any form.



The word "NEW" appeared on Jersey's decimal coins from 1968 to 1980 inclusive.




The Falkland pound coin.



The original circulation coins of the Falkland Islands carried the denomination only in figures.


Neither "NEW" nor "PENCE" were used in the legend.

However, the 1 and 2 pound coins, released in 1987 and 2004 respectively, carry the denomination in words only.

The lower denominations still carry only figures.



Gibraltar, and St Helena and Ascension, have never used the word "NEW" on their circulation coins.

By the time they were released in the 1980s, no other parts of the sterling area used it any longer.

Gibraltar did, however, use the legend "25 NEW PENCE" on some of its collector coins of the 1970s.



Ireland used both words and numerals for the denominations on its predecimal coins.

However, its decimal coins used only numerals, along with "P" for pence.

The word "NEW" was never used in the legends.

So, of those who used the word "NEW" in the coin legends:

*  The Isle of Man dropped it in 1976.

*  Guernsey in 1977.

*  Jersey in 1981.

*  The UK in 1982.


Usually the UK takes the lead in making changes to the standard coinage.

In this case it was the last to adopt a change.

[<k>]

Design continuity from the predecimal system to decimal changeover.



Jersey maintained the greatest design continuity: the reverse of all its predecimal coins and all its first decimal coins carried the Jersey coat of arms.



Ireland transferred three of its predecimal reverse designs to its decimal coins: the bull went straight from the shilling to its decimal counterpart, the five pence coin, while the salmon moved from the florin to its decimal counterpart, the ten pence coin; and the woodcock from the defunct farthing moved to the decimal fifty pence.







Guernsey transferred the cow on its predecimal threepence to the decimal ten pence.

The Guernsey lily on its four doubles moved to the decimal five pence coin.



The UK transferred Britannia from the predecimal penny to the decimal fifty pence.

However, the two Britannia designs were two very different versions by different artists.

The portcullis moved from the predecimal threepence to the decimal penny.

Again the two designs were by different artists. They were similar but not identical.

See also: The pound: predecimal to decimal design continuity.

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The earliest modern pound coins.



In 1978 the Pobjoy Mint produced the world's first modern pound coin for the Isle of Man, which it proudly called the round pound. The UK did not issue its own pound coins until 1983. The Manx government did intend that this coin should circulate. However, when I visited the Isle of Man in 1981, I did not find any in circulation. The Manx population did not like the coin, and they preferred their pound notes.

This first Manx pound coin was light and thin - not thick, like the current ones. It was confusingly close in size to the circulation five pence. It weighed only 4 gram and was 1.45 mm thick. Its diameter was 22.5mm, compared to 23.6 mm for the 5 pence coin at that time. The edge of the first Manx pound alternated between smooth and milled. It was made of virenium, an alloy which had a silvery colour but with a golden tint. It was minted from 1978 to 1982.

See: Isle of Man circulation 1 and 5 pound coins.




In 1981 Jersey produced a one-year circulating commemorative 1 pound coin. It weighed 9 grams and had a diameter of 30 mm. Its square shape made it a novelty, but it also meant that it could not be used in vending machines. It was therefore not a good prototype for a circulating pound coin.




In 1981 Guernsey also issue a circulation pound coin. It was very similar in specification to the later standard round pound coins, being made of nickel-brass, 22mm in diameter (compared to 22.5mm for the later standard pound coins), with a thickness of 2.5 mm and weighing 7.9g (as opposed to 9.5g for the later standard pound coins). Guernsey, however, was one of those parts of the sterling area where the population was not fond of pound coins, for the simple reason that Guernsey one pound notes were still issued.




When the UK round pound was issued in 1983, it weighed 9.5 grams, was 22.5 mm in diameter and had a thickness of 3.15 mm. Originally it was meant to have a thickness of 2.5 mm, but in tests people tended to confuse the test coin with the old large 5 pence coin, so its thickness was increased, and this solved the problem. Thereafter the other parts of the sterling area used the same dimensions as the UK round pound for their own pound coins.