New £1 coin to be released in 2023 which will celebrate 'history of the UK in the 21st century'

A brand new £1 coin will enter circulation in 2023 to mark the 40 years since the first ever one was released into the public.

The new coin will be designed by Kenyan born British artist Michael Armitage, which will celebrate the culture, creativity, heritage and history of the UK in the 21st century. It will be minted at The Royal Mint early next year alongside a special collector's edition.

The new design will be the first change to the £1 since 2017, when it was crafted to have 12 sides to replace the former 'round pound' and to include a range of anti-counterfeit features. The design will too include the current world-leading high security features to protect against counterfeiting and will still feature the fifth effigy of Her Majesty the Queen on the opposite side.

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Michael Armitage was chosen by the Chancellor Rishi Sunak on advice provided by an independent panel with expertise in coin design and art, established to assess the artistic merits and ideas behind proposals put forward by selected candidates. During a Royal College of Art’s (RCA) reception on Tuesday evening (10 May), Rishi Sunak announced that Michael Armitage’s new design will celebrate the “culture, creativity, and heritage and history” of the UK in the 21st century.

Michael is the son of a Yorkshireman and Kikuyu mother, and was born in Nairobi, Kenya in 1984. He now lives works between London and Nairobi. He trained at the Slade School of Fine Art, London and the Royal Academy Schools. In January 2022, the Royal Academy of Arts, London, elected him a Royal Academician in the category of painting.

Speaking at a celebration of the RCA’s