• The current £1 coin was introduced 30 years ago. Bethany Clarke / Getty Images
    The current £1 coin was introduced 30 years ago. Bethany Clarke / Getty Images
  • A children’s ride takes one-pound coins. The Royal Mint says the new 12-sided coins will make use of new security features already used in bills to keep criminals at bay. Bethany Clarke / Getty Images
    A children’s ride takes one-pound coins. The Royal Mint says the new 12-sided coins will make use of new security features already used in bills to keep criminals at bay. Bethany Clarke / Getty Images
  • A parking meter accepts £1 coins. Plans have been announced by the Bank of England to replace the current one pound coin with a new designed to reduce forgeries. Bethany Clarke / Getty Images
    A parking meter accepts £1 coins. Plans have been announced by the Bank of England to replace the current one pound coin with a new designed to reduce forgeries. Bethany Clarke / Getty Images
  • A children’s ride takes one-pound coins. Retailers, vending machine operators and other small firms could face costs to alter coin slots. Bethany Clarke / Getty Images
    A children’s ride takes one-pound coins. Retailers, vending machine operators and other small firms could face costs to alter coin slots. Bethany Clarke / Getty Images
  • A children’s fire truck ride takes old one-pound coins. The introduction of the 12-sided coin comes amid concerns about the 30-year old coin’s vulnerability to counterfeiting. Bethany Clarke / Getty Images
    A children’s fire truck ride takes old one-pound coins. The introduction of the 12-sided coin comes amid concerns about the 30-year old coin’s vulnerability to counterfeiting. Bethany Clarke / Getty Images
  • A passport photo booth accepts old one-pound coins. There are an estimated nearly £46 million forgeries in circulation. Bethany Clarke / Getty Images
    A passport photo booth accepts old one-pound coins. There are an estimated nearly £46 million forgeries in circulation. Bethany Clarke / Getty Images
  • Children’s toy dispensers take £1 coins. There are an estimated nearly £46 million forgeries in circulation. Bethany Clarke / Getty Images
    Children’s toy dispensers take £1 coins. There are an estimated nearly £46 million forgeries in circulation. Bethany Clarke / Getty Images
  • A fruit machine takes one-pound coins. The Royal Mint will begin replacing existing round £1 coins in 2017 in a bid to stamp out fraud. Bethany Clarke / Getty Images
    A fruit machine takes one-pound coins. The Royal Mint will begin replacing existing round £1 coins in 2017 in a bid to stamp out fraud. Bethany Clarke / Getty Images
  • Children’s toy dispensers take one-pound coins. There are an estimated nearly £46 million forgeries in circulation. Bethany Clarke / Getty Images
    Children’s toy dispensers take one-pound coins. There are an estimated nearly £46 million forgeries in circulation. Bethany Clarke / Getty Images
  • A supermarket trolley takes the old one-pound coins. The new £1 coin, billed by the Royal Mint as the ‘most secure coin in the world’, would replace the round coins by 2017. Bethany Clarke / Getty Images
    A supermarket trolley takes the old one-pound coins. The new £1 coin, billed by the Royal Mint as the ‘most secure coin in the world’, would replace the round coins by 2017. Bethany Clarke / Getty Images
  • A drinks vending machine accepts coins. Retailers, vending machine operators and other small firms could face costs to alter coin slots. Bethany Clarke / Getty Images
    A drinks vending machine accepts coins. Retailers, vending machine operators and other small firms could face costs to alter coin slots. Bethany Clarke / Getty Images

Business

In pictures: UK’s new coin, sound as a pound?

Liz Claus

March 20, 2014

  • English
  • Arabic

The UK government has unveiled a 12-sided one-pound coin in a bid to stamp out fraud. Up to 3 per cent of £1 coins in circualtion are fakes, the Royal Mint estimates. Retailers, vending machine operators and other small firms however could face costs to alter coin slots.

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