The £1 coin in base metal (as opposed to the gold sovereign, which has a nominal face value of one pound too), nickel-brass was introduced in 1983, as a replacement for the £1 banknote. A variety of designs were issued into circulation between 1983 and 2016; they were all demonetised in 2017 and replaced by the current 12-sided bimetallic one pound coin.
Various reverse designs represented first the United Kingdom as a whole, then in rotation Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England, alternating each year in that order. The third series in this rotation was designed by Edwina Ellis and featured famous bridges in each of the four constituent parts of the United Kingdom as a tribute to British architecture and engineering achievement. The first coin in the series showed the Forth Railway Bridge in Scotland and was released in 2004; it was then followed by the Menai Bridge £1 2005 representing Wales, the Egyptian Arch Bridge £1 2006 representing Northern Ireland, and finally the Millennium Bridge £1 2006 representing England - showing the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, a pedestrian and cyclist tilt bridge spanning the River Tyne in North East England.
Normally, the Royal Mint does not make its pattern coins available to the public. However, there have been a couple of cases when patterns were released. In this case, patterns in precious metals for the coins of the series were issued to collectors - all of them dated 2003 and having the word PATTERN instead of the value and denomination ONE POUND on the reverse. By long-standing tradition, they are also further distinguished from regular coins by having a plain edge; in this instance, they also have a hallmark on the edge, which was a first.
Coins of this type are not and never have been legal tender. |
| Notes | There are no "regular", base metal coins of the type. The existing coins are one of the types listed as varieties below: silver or gold. The coins were released in a set of four containing:
1. Forth Railway Bridge Pattern £1 2003
2. Menai Bridge Pattern £1 2003
3. Egyptian Arch Bridge Pattern £1 2003
4. Millennium Bridge Pattern £1 2003.
When the coins were initially released, Chards said about them: "We have never had an explanation from the Royal Mint as to why this set was issued as "patterns", and also why they are all dated 2003 when we expected them to be dated 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007. We can only conjecture that they are not permitted to produce or release legal tender coins bearing a future date, and there may have been some complex legal reason why permission could not be obtained to release them as legal tender coins. Whatever the reasons, the coins bear the inscription "PATTERN" where they would normally say "ONE POUND". They also have a plain edge rather than a reeded and inscribed edge, and the coins are hallmarked on their edge, the first time this has been done on British coins, although we note this has also been done on the new 2004 pattern issue." |
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Search for United Kingdom: One Pound 2003 Millennium Bridge (Pattern) on eBay 