Royal Shield £1 (2008 to 2016)

Most Royal Shield pounds were struck in large numbers, and worn coins from change are common. The year matters: 2013 was the smallest of the circulation years, and the fifth-portrait coins dated 2015 and 2016 were never issued for circulation, so they come only from sets and sell for more than the circulation years. Beyond that, condition sets the price. Brilliant uncirculated coins from Royal Mint packs sit above circulated ones, and sealed or certified packs sit higher still.

With 311,663,630 struck for circulation, the Royal Shield £1 is the 23rd rarest of the 26 ranked £1 designs and has the 173rd lowest mintage of all 194 circulating UK designs. That puts it in the Common band, for mintages 10,000,000 or more.

The next rarer £1 is the Thistle £1, with 216,837,002 struck, and the next more common is the Leek £1, with 325,700,051 struck.

Its lowest circulation mintage was in 2013, with 13,090,500 struck.

Look for the shield on its own with no crown above it, ONE to its left, POUND to its right and no beaded border. Circulation coins run from 2008 to 2015 with Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait. A coin with Jody Clark's portrait, the Queen in a diadem with JC below, came from a 2015 or 2016 set. Derek Gorringe's 1988 shield looks similar but has a crown and ONE POUND underneath. The old Royal Arms design was also struck in 2008, so check the reverse as well as the date.

Known varieties of the Royal Shield £1, all listed among the UK error coins and varieties:

• Fifth portrait: Dated 2015 and 2016 with the Jody Clark portrait, struck only for brilliant uncirculated sets and never issued for circulation.

In August 2005 the Royal Mint opened a competition for new reverse designs on every circulating coin except the £2 coin. The winner, announced in April 2008, was Matthew Dent, who took the shield of the Royal Arms and divided it among the 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p and 50p, so that the six coins placed together form the whole shield. The £1 carries it complete: the three lions of England, the lion rampant of Scotland and the harp of Ireland, with ONE on the left, POUND on the right and no beaded border around the rim. The new designs entered circulation from mid-2008. The edge carries DECUS ET TUTAMEN and the cross crosslet. Dent's shield remained the round pound's standard reverse until the last circulation strikes in December 2015, and versions with Jody Clark's portrait were made for 2015 and 2016 sets only.