1985 UK Coin £1 Silver Proof Welsh Leek

This 1985 Welsh Leek silver proof one pound coin is the second coin in the series by Leslie Durbin CBE. This series of four one pound coins features a national plant emblem.

Struck in 0.925 sterling silver fineness, this British legal tender coin comes in a presentation box with a certificate of authenticity.

This four year cycle can also be bought in a set, we have both the silver proof set and silver piedfort set in stock - please note this is listed on the old site until we move products over. 

The milled edge features the cross-crosslet mintmark of the Royal Mint Llantrisant and the Welsh inscription:

"PLEIDIOL, WYF I'M GWLAD"

This translates as "True am I to my country".

The Principality of Wales

Wales has a population of approximately 2.75 million and covers about one twelfth of the land area of the United Kingdom. Perhaps its most distinctive feature is the Welsh language, still spoken by a fifth of the population.

The leek had been recognised as the emblem of Wales since the middle of the 16th century. Its association with Wales can in fact be traced back to the battle of Heathfield in 633 AD, when St. David persuaded his countrymen to distinguish themselves from their Saxon foes by wearing a leek in their caps.

In 1301 Edward I conferred the title Prince of Wales on his son Edward, who had been born some years earlier at Caernavon. Since that time the heir to the throne has usually, though not invariably, been created Prince of Wales. Many will remember the colourful investiture ceremony at Caernavon in July 1969 for Prince Charles, who was created Prince of Wales in 1958. His ostrich feather badge, the distinctive badge of the Heir Apparent since Tudor times, currently appears on the reverse on the 2p.

On 28 March 2017, the circulated round pound was replaced by the 12 sided £1 coin. On the 15 October the round £1 coin will cease to be legal tender.

1985 heralds the appearance of a new effigy of The Queen for use on the obverse of the circulating coinage of the United Kingdom. This is only the third portrait of Elizabeth II to be used on United Kingdom coins since her accession in 1952.

Invitations to take part in a competition for the new portrait were accepted by seventeen artists, who submitted a total of 38 models. These models were examined by the Royal Mint Advisory Committee, presided over by HRH Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, and the work of Raphael David Maklouf was selected.

The first effigy of the Queen, designed by Mary Gillick, was used on the United Kingdom coinage from Her Majesty's accession until decimalisation. It was replaced by the Arnold Machin effigy which was adopted for United Kingdom coins in 1968 and was subsequently used for nearly all our coins until 1984.

The traditional Royal Maundy Money, however, still bears the portrait by Mary Gillick.

All £1 coins dated 1985 feature on the reverse the national emblem of Wales - the leek. In the words of the Royal Proclamation, the reverse design shows "a Leek eradicated enfiling a representation of Our Royal Diadem". The design is the work of distinguished silversmith Leslie Durbin.