1995 UN One Pound Coin

Mr CJ

Hey,

Has anyone got any info on these coins? I have seen them for sale online but they are never for sale with its official box and cert, I thought I read somewhere that they exist only in 2 digit numbers with the proper box and that? Even the official mintage qty is not really known?

Blade

Old thread about it here:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=78145839

MasterSun

I bought this off a coin collector a few years ago, got these descriptions from the seller:

Ireland's lowest-mintage coin (and first-ever 'Crown'):
1995 U.N. SILVER PROOF IRISH POUND

Struck for Central Bank of Ireland by the Royal Mint, this official Legal Tender £1 coin exists only as a Crown-sized Sterling Silver Proof. (Krause KM30).
COMPLETE WITH ROYAL MINT PRESENTATION CASE & CERTIFICATE. Gem mint state.

In June 1995, to mark 50 years of the United Nations, the Royal Mint commenced a multi-country set of 36 Sterling Silver ‘Crowns'. At £30 each, they would be issued monthly to subscribers only. However, it was January 1996 before a Mint leaflet revealed the intention to include Ireland.

With 'unpredictable' items like this expensive World set, it is normal to produce small test quantities and see how they sell, before any full-scale minting (e.g. the 1998 UK Britannia silver 1-oz. sold with an "authorised limit" of 20,000, yet actual mintage was just 2,168). Although the "authorised limit" for this Irish £1 coin was 25,000 (see Royal Mint certificate), the Central Bank of Ireland ordered just 750 for itself: in presentation case, in capsule, with RM silver-printed certificate, a quantity went to Irish embassies for use as official gifts; visitors/tourists purchased the rest. There was little publicity. Years later, most Irish collectors were either still unaware this important coin existed, or had no idea of its rarity!

Only a few hundred of the expensive (£1,080) 36-coin sets were ever ordered. (Note: Irish coins removed from this set are without case or Certificate). Even with the 750 cased single-coins struck for Ireland itself, the mintage had to be TINY. This was confirmed when mintage figures were at last released: final mintage was well below 2,000, making this 1995 Silver Proof Pound .....

Mr CJ

Thanks Blade

MasterSun thanks for the info so the official figure is only 750 in presentation boxes?

I thought the only original box is the Blue Royal mint one? Was there a white one also? Anyone have any idea how much the original is worth with cert and blue box?

Thanks

Blade

Apparently only the Cream ones were available to the public, where the blue were for special gifts. At least that's what I've been told by another Boards member who looked into it. But be careful with the blue ones as many of these are not original cases, dealers often use 3rd party RM boxes which look the same but are a slightly different colour. Not something you could tell from a photo.

Mr CJ

Blade wrote: »

Apparently only the Cream ones were available to the public, where the blue were for special gifts. At least that's what I've been told by another Boards member who looked into it. But be careful with the blue ones as many of these are not original cases, dealers often use 3rd party RM boxes which look the same but are a slightly different colour. Not something you could tell from a photo.

Thanks for your reply, so the 750 would that amount include the cream and blue box? Strange thing also they were produced in 1997?

Any idea how to tell apart the real blue? Does anyone know how much the official one is with blue box and cert and are there any available to buy?

Blade

I've no idea of mintage figures or how many were in what boxes, I'm not sure anyone really knows. The difference between the original blue boxes and 3rd party ones is very slight, so you really need to see the two to compare them. There will be a coin fair in October at the RDS and you should be able to pick one up, I've often seen them there. Personally I'd go for a cream one for peace of mind and also in case you should want to sell it in the future, there'll be no questioning it's authenticity. But sure discuss this with whatever dealer you're buying it from. I'm sure more than one will have them so haggle for the best price. I've no idea what they're charging now for them, maybe 150 to 200 Euro in their original boxes. Loose coins I'd imagine around 100 Euro.

MasterSun

I paid roughly 120 euro for mine, but as you can from my pic, the cert has some defects. My presentation case is in a cream colour not white.

The price is usually around 90 - 130 euro on ebay for loose ones, but sometimes you see it goes up to 200.
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/110908195310?ssPageName=STRK:MESINDXX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1436.l2649
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/190692156670?ssPageName=STRK:MESINDXX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1436.l2649
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/IRELAND-1995-SILVER-925-United-Nations-1-Proof-50th-aniversary-Irish-Coin-RARE-/370636062173?pt=UK_Coins_European_RL&hash=item564ba17ddd

I know that Dublin Coin Auctions sold one in presentation case with cert for only 40 euro last month (item no. 309 in their July fixed price sale). It’s either mispriced or the guys at Dublin Coin Auctions know something that we don’t. Maybe you should contact Dublin Coin Auctions for more details.

DMcL1971

I spent a good deal of time searching the net and chatting to people about this coin earlier this year and I could find no definite answer on the mintage numbers. The overall impression I got was that the central bank ordered around 750 coins in presentaion boxes from the royal mint. Some of these where in blue boxes but those were only given as special gifts to diplomats or senior civil servants involved in the UN. The rest were in cream coloured boxes, as in MasterSun's picture. Those were sold by the central bank to the public. But this was before they had a coin collector unit or a marketing department, so coin collectors didn't even know they existed. They would have been sold to whoever happened to notice them. In addition to the approximately 750 the central bank ordered from the Royal Mint, around another 2000 were minted for use in the 36 coin sets. But the sets were not very popular and very few were sold. So the remaining coins were sold off in capsules.

The royal mint have used various different colour presentation boxes for that size of coin over the years for many different coins and countries. So you can find all sorts of combinations of the UN coin and different coloured boxes that peolple have combined with the leftover coins. As Blade says there are two shades of blue boxes and I have also seen that coin in black, purple and green boxes, with and without certificates. And of course sold loose, with and without certificates.

Of course, the most desirable and rare version would be that in the correct blue box. But there were so few of them released and they were only given to dignitaries, so they are unlikely to turn up on the open market and if they did, very few people would know which was the correct box. I have met someone who has the correct combination and he knows it because he got it from someone who would have received one. And he says it is the only one he has ever seen.

So unless you have a friend who is a foreign diplomat or who represented Ireland in the UN, I think your best bet is to go for one in the cream coloured box. MasterSun bought his a few years ago for 120 (with a worn certificate). I bought mine this year for 200 (clean certificate). So you should be able to get one at the coin fair in October for around the 200 mark.

As for the 1997 mintage date. From the info MasterSun posted above it seems the coins were being released to collectors on a monthly basis to complete their sets. So I presume it wasn't our turn until late 1997.

Mr CJ

MasterSun wrote: »

I paid roughly 120 euro for mine, but as you can from my pic, the cert has some defects. My presentation case is in a cream colour not white.

The price is usually around 90 - 130 euro on ebay for loose ones, but sometimes you see it goes up to 200.
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/110908195310?ssPageName=STRK:MESINDXX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1436.l2649
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/190692156670?ssPageName=STRK:MESINDXX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1436.l2649
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/IRELAND-1995-SILVER-925-United-Nations-1-Proof-50th-aniversary-Irish-Coin-RARE-/370636062173?pt=UK_Coins_European_RL&hash=item564ba17ddd

I know that Dublin Coin Auctions sold one in presentation case with cert for only 40 euro last month (item no. 309 in their July fixed price sale). It’s either mispriced or the guys at Dublin Coin Auctions know something that we don’t. Maybe you should contact Dublin Coin Auctions for more details.

Hey thanks for the info, sounds like it was very mispriced, lucky the person who got it for that price especially when they are going for over 100 just for the coin itself.

Mr CJ

DMcL1971 wrote: »

I spent a good deal of time searching the net and chatting to people about this coin earlier this year and I could find no definite answer on the mintage numbers. The overall impression I got was that the central bank ordered around 750 coins in presentaion boxes from the royal mint. Some of these where in blue boxes but those were only given as special gifts to diplomats or senior civil servants involved in the UN. The rest were in cream coloured boxes, as in MasterSun's picture. Those were sold by the central bank to the public. But this was before they had a coin collector unit or a marketing department, so coin collectors didn't even know they existed. They would have been sold to whoever happened to notice them. In addition to the approximately 750 the central bank ordered from the Royal Mint, around another 2000 were minted for use in the 36 coin sets. But the sets were not very popular and very few were sold. So the remaining coins were sold off in capsules.

The royal mint have used various different colour presentation boxes for that size of coin over the years for many different coins and countries. So you can find all sorts of combinations of the UN coin and different coloured boxes that peolple have combined with the leftover coins. As Blade says there are two shades of blue boxes and I have also seen that coin in black, purple and green boxes, with and without certificates. And of course sold loose, with and without certificates.

Of course, the most desirable and rare version would be that in the correct blue box. But there were so few of them released and they were only given to dignitaries, so they are unlikely to turn up on the open market and if they did, very few people would know which was the correct box. I have met someone who has the correct combination and he knows it because he got it from someone who would have received one. And he says it is the only one he has ever seen.

So unless you have a friend who is a foreign diplomat or who represented Ireland in the UN, I think your best bet is to go for one in the cream coloured box. MasterSun bought his a few years ago for 120 (with a worn certificate). I bought mine this year for 200 (clean certificate). So you should be able to get one at the coin fair in October for around the 200 mark.

As for the 1997 mintage date. From the info MasterSun posted above it seems the coins were being released to collectors on a monthly basis to complete their sets. So I presume it wasn't our turn until late 1997.

Thank you for your reply.

That kinda backs up what I found myself and I did read somewhere that it was 2750 qty. I will try find it but someone else estimated the original blue to have a qty in the 2 digit figures not sure if its accurate though.

So you would have to go to a coin fair I suppose to find out what the real one is like colour wise