Chancellor unveils design of new £1 coin

The design for Britain’s brand new £1 coin has been revealed by UK Chancellor George Osborne.

David Pearce, a fifteen-year-old pupil at Queen Mary’s Grammar School in Walsall, beat off competition from over 6,000 entrants in a competition to design the ‘tails’ side of a new £1 coin.

Competition entrants were asked to create a design which symbolises Britain, and entries included cups of tea, flags, maps, the weather, famous writers, seaside piers, and even the Rolling Stones motif.

David’s winning design, which features a leek, rose, shamrock and thistle emerging from a coronet, has been refined for use on the final coin with the support of the renowned coin artist David Lawrence and lettering expert Stephen Raw. The winning design is set to appear on £1 coins from 2017 onwards.

David said of his win: ‘I was really excited to hear that I had won the competition to design the new £1 coin but hugely shocked as well! I heard about the competition through my design teacher at school and I thought I had nothing to lose so I decided to enter.

‘I spent a lot of time researching what coin designs looked like and what sort of designs would represent all parts of the UK before submitting my idea and I honestly cannot believe I have won.’

The new £1 coin, which was announced by the Chancellor at last year’s Budget, will have the same shape as the twelve-sided three pence piece or ‘threepenny bit’ and will be the most secure coin in circulation in the world. Its features include a two-colour bi-metallic construction, a twelve-sided design and inclusion of The Royal Mint’s new anti-counterfeiting technology.

To find out more about The Royal Mint’s coins, visit the Mint's website.

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