Floral Northern Ireland £1 (2014)
Shamrock and flax share the reverse of the Floral Northern Ireland £1 coin, issued in 2014 as one of the last national designs before the round pound was replaced. It belongs to Timothy Noad's floral emblems series. It is one of the four floral emblem £1 coins and one of the 28 £1 designs struck since 1983.
Floral Northern Ireland £1 value
- Circulated
- typical £3, range £2.10 to £5
- Uncirculated
- typical £5, range £3 to £6
Worked out from 9 published prices (4 sold-price reports, 3 price guides and 2 dealer prices), each condition from its own prices, checked in September 2026.
Rarity rank 7 of 26 ranked £1 designs, rarest first
Rarity: UncommonThe shamrock and flax pound came from a small issue next to older round pounds and spent only about three years in change, so even worn coins sell above face value. Condition matters most, with sharp shamrock leaves and an unmarked field lifting a coin. Brilliant uncirculated examples from Royal Mint sets are the most wanted.
Floral Northern Ireland £1 mintage and rarity
With 5,780,000 struck for circulation, the Floral Northern Ireland £1 is the seventh rarest of the 26 ranked £1 designs and has the 114th lowest mintage of all 194 circulating UK designs. That puts it in the Uncommon band, for mintages 2,500,000 to 9,999,999.
The next rarer £1 is the Floral England £1, with 5,270,000 struck, and the next more common is the Belfast £1, with 6,205,000 struck.
| Year | Circulation mintage | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 5,780,000 |
How to spot a Floral Northern Ireland £1
Look for three-leaved shamrocks at the top left, a curling tendril at the top and a five-petalled flax flower at the right, on a leafy stem that sweeps up from the bottom left. Below them runs ONE POUND, and there is no crown. Durbin's flax coin of 1986 and 1991 shows a whole flax plant growing through a diadem, so the shamrock tells you this is the 2014 design. The date sits next to Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait, and the edge reads DECUS ET TUTAMEN.
Floral Northern Ireland £1 design
Northern Ireland and Scotland completed Timothy Noad's floral emblems series in 2014, a year after the English and Welsh coins. For Northern Ireland, Noad set the shamrock beside the flax plant, the emblem Leslie Durbin had used on his Northern Ireland pound of 1986. Three sprigs of three-leaved shamrock gather at the upper left on a stem that ends in a curling tendril at the top, while the flax rises on the right with an open five-petalled flower, a half-open bloom and a bud, on a leafy stem that sweeps in from the lower left just above the ONE POUND lettering. Noad went on to design the Royal Arms £1 of 2015, one of the final reverses for the round coin. On the obverse is Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of the Queen, while the edge repeats the DECUS ET TUTAMEN inscription of the English coin.
In the floral emblem set it followed the Floral Wales £1 of 2013 and was issued in 2014 together with the Floral Scotland £1.
Floral Northern Ireland £1 specifications
- Denomination
- £1
- Year
- 2014
- Type
- Definitive
- Issue
- Issued for circulation
- Series
- Floral emblems (2013 to 2014)
- Occasion
- Northern Ireland's design in the round £1 floral emblems series of 2013 and 2014
- Designer
- Timothy Noad
- Composition
- Nickel-brass
- Weight
- 9.5 g
- Diameter
- 22.5 mm
- Shape
- Round
- Edge
- Milled, with incuse inscription DECUS ET TUTAMEN and the cross crosslet mint mark
- Obverse
- Elizabeth II, fourth portrait by Ian Rank-Broadley
Floral Northern Ireland £1 questions
Is the 2014 Northern Ireland £1 rare?
It is uncommon rather than rare. Fewer were struck than of Northern Ireland's earlier flax and Celtic cross pounds, and it only circulated for about three years.
What flowers are on the 2014 Northern Ireland £1?
A shamrock and a flax plant. Flax had represented Northern Ireland on the round pound before, on Leslie Durbin's design of 1986.