1983 UK Coin £1 Ordinary Circulation Royal Coat of Arms - Loose

The year 1983 is significant for the United Kingdom as it heralds the introduction of the new one pound coin which entered circulation on 21st April 1983.

Edge

The edge is not only milled but also inscribed. The inscription in Latin reads:

DECUS ET TUTAMEN

Which may be translated as "an ornament and a safeguard". This inscription dates back to the first machine-struck coins minted in 1662 and was a device to prevent "clipping".

Llantrisant Mint Mark

On the milled edge of the coin is the Llantrisant mint mark - a cross crosslet. This is the first United Kingdom coin to be struck with this distinctive feature. The shape of the cross alluding to Llantrisant, which translated from the Welsh means "Church or Parish of the Three Saints".

Design Competition

The design process for the pound coin began with a competition for the reverse design of the new coin. The entries were judged by the Royal Mint Advisory Committee, whose President is the Duke of Edinburgh, and the selected design by Eric Sewell, formerly Chief Engraver of the Royal Mint, was then submitted for the approval of Her Majesty The Queen.

The obverse of the coin shows the Arnold Machin portrait of The Queen which was adopted for decimalisation, and has been used on nearly all UK coinage since 1968. It continued in use until 1984.

The reverse of the coin shows the Royal Arms, and it is appropriate that it should feature on one of the nation's premier coins.

Queen Elizabeth II is a direct descendant of the Sovereigns of England, of Ireland and of Scotland. Accordingly Her Majesty is head of the oldest continuing Royal Lines in Christendom. As the embodiment of the Sovereignty of those countries, Her Majesty quarters their historic Arms.

The Royal Arms achieved their present form upon the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837 and have remained essentially the same ever since.