Local MP Dame Caroline Spelman is encouraging residents to meet the new £1 coin after The Royal Mint, together with the Bank of England and the Treasury, released the first wave of new pound coins earlier today.
The 12 sided £1 coin- which are produced at a rate of four million per day will soon replace round £1 coins as legal tender. Around 1.5 billion new £1 coins are being produced by The Royal Mint and will be distributed to banks and retailers over the next 6 months. As part of this process, round £1 coins will be returned to The Royal Mint – which will be recycled to make the new coin.
Designed to tackle the issue of counterfeited coins, the new £1 has a number of features that make it much more difficult to forge:
- 12-sided – its distinctive shape makes it instantly recognisable, even by touch.
- Bimetallic – it is made of two metals. The outer ring is gold coloured (nickel-brass) and the inner ring is silver coloured (nickel-plated alloy).
- Latent image – it has an image like a hologram that changes from a ‘£’ symbol to the number '1' when the coin is seen from different angles.
- Micro-lettering – it has very small lettering on the lower inside rim on both sides of the coin. One pound on the obverse “heads” side and the year of production on the reverse “tails” side, for example 2016 or 2017.
- Milled edges – it has grooves on alternate sides, and;
- A hidden high security feature – a high security feature is built into the coin to protect it from counterfeiting in the future.
Local residents have until 15th October 2017 to trade their round pound coins into the bank. After this date this will no longer be legal tender.
Dame Caroline said: “From today [Tuesday], the public will start to use the most innovative and secure coin ever produced by The Royal Mint”.
“Produced at a rate of four million per day from recycled coins, the new 12-sided £1 coins have been designed to better protect the public against the threat posed to the value of our currency from counterfeit coinage”.
“Local resident have six months (until 15th October 2017) to trade in their old ‘round’ £1 coins at the bank. So remember to check your wallets, dig deep in your handbags and tell your children to empty their piggy banks so you don’t lose out!”.
For more information, including how the release of new coinage will affect local businesses and metered coin machines, please visit: https://www.thenewpoundcoin.com/