UK May Have to Scrap Pound Coin 1 in 36 Are Fake
Counterfeit Pound Coins Are Proving a Nightmare for the Royal Mint
This data was made public by Justine Greening, who is the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, in response to a question asked in Parliament.
With counterfeit levels at an all time high, the Royal Mint may be forced to recall all the pound coins that are in circulation at this time, and to replace them with a new design. This would be extremely costly, and would also be a major inconvenience for consumers.
Since the smallest note in circulation in the UK is the Five Pound Note, equivalent to US$8, the Pound coin and to a lesser extent the Two Pound coin are much used by everyone.
The quality of the new fake coins is so good, that it is often hard to tell which is genuine and which is not. Often the fake ones are only identified when they have been rejected by a vending machine, since these check the weight and metal composition of coins.
The fake coins can usually be identified from their having a difference in colour, and slightly different writing around the edge of the coin.
Some fake coins also have the reserve printed at an angle, which makes them easily identifiable. If you hold a coin with the Queen's head upright, and rotate the coin, the reverse should also be upright, not at an angle. The Queen's head should also be a bolder design.
The article in The Daily Mail has illustrations of this and how to spot fake pound coins.
Let's be careful out there, and make sure that the pound coins we have are the real thing.
Sources:
Published by Tony Payne
Tony Payne is a freelance writer who lives on the South Coast of England with his wife Debbie. He has worked in the IT Industry all his life, and has been writing on various sites for the last 10 years. T... View profile
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18 Comments
Post a CommentInteresting. Thanks for sharing.
That is terrible! I can't believe it is so many.
I don't know where the coins are coming from, but Eastern Europe seems a likely place.
What a mess! Any idea where these fakes are coming from?
...So if they ditch the pound coin, will they go back to the pound note? It seems to me you would need a small denomination bill or coin of some kind. Good report.
That's a lot of fake money!
Well that ain't good.
Wow! I'm glad I turned in all the coins my son left here. It was about $150.00! He appreciated the windfall! I'm probably guilty of now of passing counterfeit money!
And, we are going to problably see a resurgence of counterfieters if not already!
Oops! Better check my currency stash... I keep plenty of currency from everywhere just in case. I have a whole lot of UK money... or maybe not! lmao