Product Information

The 2008 £1 coin features the intricate depiction of the Royal Arms by Eric Sewell that was created in 1983 on the reverse.

On its obverse the coin carries the familiar portrait of Her Majesty The Queen by Ian Rank-Broadley's FRBS.

The coin is accompanied by a colourful booklet incorporating space for a photograph of the baby as well as those all-important details such as the baby's name, weight, date and time of birth. A Certificate of Authenticity attesting to the issue limit of 2,008 completes the presentation.

Background & History

The original reverse design of the £1 coin, introduced into circulation in 1983, bore the Royal Arms with lion and unicorn supporters, a symbol of the Queen's sovereignty over the whole of the United Kingdom.

This finely detailed depiction of the Royal Arms was created by Eric Sewell, a former Chief Engraver of the Royal Mint, and appears once again on the £1 coin on the occasion of its 25th anniversary. The whole is surrounded by 100 beads reflecting the 100 pennies that make up £1.

On the edge of the coin is the cross-crosslet mintmark of Llantrisant and the Latin inscription DECUS ET TUTAMEN, meaning 'an ornament and a safeguard' which first appeared on the edge of coins of Charles II to deter the unscrupulous practice of clipping and shaving precious metal from the coins.

The Royal Arms, with lion and unicorn supporters, incorporates the famous motto of the Order of the Garter HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE and, in a decorative banner, the words DIEU ET MON DROIT, the motto of English monarchs since Henry V.