England one pound - II

1 pound, Welsh leek

A leek in a coronet is shown here, representing Wales. Rather than producing bulbs like onion, a leek produces long bundles of sheathed leaves. Leeks can be easily grown and are used to lend flavor to stock.

1 pound scottish thistle

This one shows a cotton thistle sprig in a coronet, representing Scotland.

1 pound, Menai bridge

This coin shows the Menai Suspension Bridge (Welsh: Pont Grog y Borth) is a suspension bridge between the island of Anglesey and the mainland of Wales. Completed in 1826, it is one of the first modern suspension bridges in the world.

Thomas Telford was assigned the task of improving the route from London to Holyhead, which is one of the key terminals to Dublin, and one of the key improvements was his design of the suspension bridge over the Menai Strait between a point near Bangor on the mainland and the village of Porthaethwy on Anglesey. The bridge was opened to much fanfare on 30 January 1826 and reduced the journey time from London to Holyhead from 36 to 27 hours, a saving of 9 hours.

Menai suspension bridge