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21 facts to celebrate the launch of the £1 coin 40 years ago

We take a look at the power of the pound and how it’s changed in the last 40 years.

Important notes

This article isn’t personal advice. If you’re not sure whether an investment is right for you please seek advice. If you choose to invest the value of your investment will rise and fall, so you could get back less than you put in.

Sarah Coles
Head of Personal Finance

Published on 24 April 2023

This article is more than 6 months old

It was correct at the time of publishing. Our views and any references to tax, investment and pension rules may have changed since then.

The £1 coin was first launched 40 years ago on 21 April 1983. The years since have brought some dramatic changes to our financial lives.

If you had put a £1 coin under the mattress, it would’ve lost 70p of its spending power – with the spending power of just 29p.

If you’d have squirrelled it away in an NS&I income bond, it would’ve done much better, building to £8.18 over this period. Inflation can erode the value of money over time.

If you’d invested in the UK stock market on the 21 April 1983, that £1 would’ve grown to £43.34 before charges (Datastream UK market index to 31/12/1985, FTSE All Share from then to 14/04/2023).

This shows that over the long term, when you have time to ride out market falls, investments have growth potential. This is only an example and past performance isn’t a guide to the future. Over the years you should expect to see plenty of ups and downs and be prepared to invest for the longer term.

Performance

If you had invested £1 on the day, it would be worth £43.34.
If you put it in an NS&I savings account, it would be worth £8.18.
And if you put it under the mattress, it would be worth 29p today, after inflation.

Coin facts

There were 443 million round pounds minted in 1983.
Its 12-sided replacement was introduced on 28 March 2017.
It lost its legal tender status on 15 October 2017.
By the time it was withdrawn, as many as one in 30 were thought to be fakes.
In the six months between the new coin arriving and the old one still being accepted, 1.2 billion round pounds were spent or returned to banks – that’s the weight of 3,500 elephants.

Money facts

Back then, the average pay for men was £145.70 a week. Now it averages £630 a week.
The average house cost just £27,386 – now the average is £290,000.
Cash was king, because we didn’t have the debit card for another four years.
We paid just 16p for a first-class stamp. Compare that to today where you fork out £1.10 for one.
£1 in 1983 had the spending power of £3.15 today.

Spending

The big shop back then set us back £8.54 per person each week, and the official data referred to the amount spent by housewives.
Now we spend £26.38 on food every week.
The average loaf cost 38p in 1983 – compared to £1.38 today.
On the high street, there were huge regional department stores, plus Woolworths, C&A, Chelsea Girl and BHS.
McDonald's was already popular – and had 100 restaurants in the UK. However, the menu was quite different, and while you could buy a fillet-o-fish, you couldn’t get chicken nuggets until the following year.
The biggest supermarket in the UK was Sainsbury’s, followed by the Co-Op. Among its big announcements that year was the fact that Pepperoni pizza was available in store.
Cinzano and lemonade was so popular that vermouth was added to the ONS shopping basket in 1983 – and remained there until the year 2000.
In 1983, Smash instant mashed potato was still in the ONS shopping basket. It wasn’t replaced by frozen chips until 1987.

This article isn't personal advice. If you're not sure if an action is right for you, ask for financial advice.

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