1988 Shield of the Royal Arms £1 Coin
The 1988 Shield of the Royal Arms £1 is a circulating £1 coin with 7.12 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1988
- Circulation mintage
- 7,118,825
- Value band
- Face value
- Composition
- Nickel-brass (70% copper, 24.5% zinc, 5.5% nickel)
Original illustration of the coin's shape and metal. Tap to flip. Not a picture of the actual design.
Face value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is a 1988 Shield of the Royal Arms £1 worth?
With 7.12 million made, the 1988 Shield of the Royal Arms £1 is common. It has no collector value beyond the pound itself. Since 15 October 2017 the round pound can no longer be spent in shops. Only uncirculated coins from sets, genuine errors and the scarce dates bring more.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with crisp edge lettering
- Original Royal Mint pack or set
- A genuine mint error confirmed by an expert
For market prices, look at recent sold results for the same coin in the same condition, not asking prices.
Quick answers
- Is the 1988 Shield of the Royal Arms £1 rare?
- No. 7.12 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 1988 Shield of the Royal Arms £1 coins were made?
- 7,118,825 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 1988 Shield of the Royal Arms £1 made of?
- Nickel-brass (70% copper, 24.5% zinc, 5.5% nickel). It weighs 9.5 g and measures 22.5 mm.
- Is the 1988 Shield of the Royal Arms £1 still legal tender?
- No. The round pound stopped being legal tender on 15 October 2017. It can no longer be spent in shops; collectors still want the scarce dates.
Why the 1988 Shield of the Royal Arms £1 was made
After the four nations had each had a coin, the cycle went back to the United Kingdom in 1988. Instead of reusing the 1983 royal arms, the Royal Mint issued a new design by Derek Gorringe: a crowned shield of the royal arms. It turned out to be a one-year design. When the United Kingdom slot came round again in 1993, the Mint went back to the original ornamental arms, so the 1988 Shield never reappeared on a circulating round pound.
That alone would make it interesting, but the mintage is the real story. Only 7,118,825 were struck for circulation, the lowest figure of any round pound from 1983 to 2007. By then hundreds of millions of round pounds were already jingling in pockets and tills. Because the design is unique to the year and the numbers are low, the 1988 Shield is one of the dates people look for when they sort through old pounds. It carries Raphael Maklouf's portrait and was struck in the usual 22.5 mm, 9.5 g nickel-brass.
How to recognize it
Derek Gorringe's reverse shows the royal shield, quartered with the lions of England, the lion of Scotland and the harp of Ireland, topped by a large crown. Below it sit the words ONE POUND. There are no supporters, which is what separates it from the 1983, 1993 and 2003 Royal Arms coins with their lion and unicorn. The edge reads DECUS ET TUTAMEN, Latin for "an ornament and a safeguard". On the obverse is the Maklouf portrait. A crowned shield with a date other than 1988 should be treated with suspicion on a round pound. The lions and the harp are small, so on a genuine coin in good condition their outlines should still be clean rather than blurred into the background.
The other side carries Raphael Maklouf's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, used from 1985 to 1997.
1988 Shield of the Royal Arms £1 by the numbers
Measured by how many were made, the 1988 Shield of the Royal Arms £1 ranks 10th lowest of 41 circulating £1 coins with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 2010 Belfast £1 (6.21 million); the next more common is the 1986 Flax Plant £1 (10.4 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1983 Royal Arms £1 with 443.1 million, about 62 times as many. The scarcest is the 2011 Edinburgh £1 with 935,000, 7.6 times fewer than this one.
It was the only circulating commemorative £1 coin dated 1988.
What to check on your 1988 Shield of the Royal Arms £1
- Read the edge. It should say DECUS ET TUTAMEN; an edge that doesn't match the design is the quickest sign of a fake.
- Turn the coin over on its vertical axis: on a genuine pound the design side is the same way up as the portrait. A tilted or upside-down reverse points to a copy.
- Weigh it: a genuine round pound weighs 9.5 g. Fakes are often light, soft in detail or a slightly different color.
- Remember that round pounds stopped being legal tender on 15 October 2017, so a common one has no use in shops.
With just over 7.1 million made, the 1988 Shield has the smallest circulation mintage of the round pounds in this run. Circulated coins still turn up often enough that they usually change hands for a small premium at most, but unworn examples draw more interest. A low-mintage, one-year design deserves a close look before you get excited. Check that the crown and shield are crisp, the color is an even gold and the edge letters are sharp and evenly spaced. Set coins from the 1988 Royal Mint sets show the finest detail.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 1 pound |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 1988 |
| Circulation mintage | 7,118,825 |
| Composition | Nickel-brass (70% copper, 24.5% zinc, 5.5% nickel) |
| Weight | 9.5 g |
| Diameter | 22.5 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Lettered: DECUS ET TUTAMEN |
| Portrait | Maklouf |
Frequently asked questions
Is the 1988 £1 coin rare?
It has the lowest circulation mintage of the round pounds from 1983 to 2007, with 7,118,825 struck. The crowned shield design was also used only that year. Worn coins are still findable, but unworn examples are the ones collectors want most.
How is the 1988 Shield different from the Royal Arms pound?
The 1988 coin shows a plain crowned shield with no supporters. The Royal Arms pounds of 1983, 1993 and 2003 show the full arms with the lion and unicorn holding the shield. Derek Gorringe designed the 1988 version; Eric Sewell designed the Royal Arms.
Mintage figures: One pound (British coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.