The new UK £1 Coin
The new UK £1 Coin has gone into production. Release date is now set for March 2017.
The new 12-sided £1 coin has gone into production a year before it reaches people’s pockets.
The coins have started rolling off the production line at a rate of more than 4,000 a minute after the UK chancellor, George Osborne, announced they would enter circulation in March 2017.
The new £1 coin featuring the emblems of the UK home nations.
When the coin is introduced, there will be a six-month crossover period with the current and new pound coins both in circulation.
The current £1 coin is being replaced for the first time in more than 30 years because it is vulnerable to counterfeiters.
In recent years, up to three pound coins in every 100 have been found to be fake. This equates to about £45m coins being a dud.
The new 12-sided coin, which resembles the old threepenny bit, will be the world’s most secure coin in circulation, the government claimed.
More than 2.2bn £1 coins have been struck since it replaced the £1 note in April 1983.
The new, two-coloured coin was announced in the 2014 budget. It measures just over 2.3cm in diameter and has rounded corners and milled edges.
Osborne said: “I am delighted that the Royal Mint are producing the most secure circulating coin anywhere in the world. With groundbreaking technology, developed in Wales, the new coin will help secure our economy and get rid of counterfeits.
“In a year’s time, the new coin, which will incorporate emblems from all four of our home nations, will line millions of pockets and purses around the UK.”
Adam Lawrence, Royal Mint chief executive, said modernising the coin was “helping to redefine the world of coinage for the future”.
All vending machine coin mechanism will need up be update to accept the new £1 coin.
Contact us to arrange the update on your vending machines. 01634 304444