Forth Bridge £1 coin to be issued

The new £1 coin is the first in a series of four

The new £1 coin - featuring one of Scotland's most famous landmarks - will be issued this weekend.

It depicts the Forth Railway Bridge on one side and is the first new version of the coin to be issued by the Royal Mint in seven years.

A silver version of the coin will be tossed at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh on Saturday to mark the start of the Scotland vs Barbarians game.

It is the first in a series of four new designs of the coin.

They all feature bridges, representing England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

One depicts the Millennium Bridge, in Gateshead, for England, another shows the Menai Strait Bridge for Wales, and a third features MacNeill's Egyptian Arch for Northern Ireland.

Nickel brass

The Scottish design has the Latin inscription nemo me impune lacessit, meaning "no-one provokes me with impunity", taken from the motto of the Order of the Thistle.

The obverse design on all the £1 coins is Ian Rank-Broadley's portrait of the Queen, which has been approved for use on UK coinage since 1998.

The four coins are the third £1 design sequence since the coin was introduced into circulation 21 years ago.

Gerald Sheehan, chief executive of the Royal Mint, said: "We are delighted this attractive coin is being tossed at the home of Scottish rugby in Edinburgh."

The Welsh design will be issued in 2005, with the Northern Ireland coin released in 2006 and the England version in 2007.

There are about 1,341 million £1 coins, which are made from nickel brass, in circulation.