The “most secure coin” in the world has already been forged
The new 12-sided £1 coin, deemed “the most secure” in the world by the Royal Mint, is rumoured to having been forged.
A charity worker claims he found a fake version of the new coin rolled out less than a month ago. Roy Wright thinks that his partner received a fake £1 coin when shopping at a Co-op store in Surrey, due to some differences.
“The coin is completely different and is more rounded around the edge,”Wright told the Sun.”There is clearly space between the engraving lines, it’s a different size, the Queen’s head is to the left, and there is no detail of the head of the thistle – it’s just a blob,” he added.
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“The stem of the coin has got no detail on it, there are a lot of things wrong with it,” Wright also mentioned.
He also said that the coin was heavier and had no hologram. According to the Independent, a spokesperson for the Royal Mint said that it has not had an opportunity to analyse the coin, but the organisation remains confident that it’s not fake.
“We are not aware of any counterfeits entering circulation but welcome the public’s caution,” the Royal Mint said. “The organisation produces around five billion coins each year, and will be striking 1.5bn new £1 coins in total. As you would expect, we have tight quality controls in place, however variances will always occur in a small number of coins, particularly in the striking process, due to the high volumes and speed of production.”
The old £1 coin has been in circulation for 34 years. It has become more and more vulnerable to sophisticated con artists. The Royal Mint said that one in 30 of those pound coins is fake. The new 12-sided £1 coin features a hologram-like image that changes from a £ symbol to the number one when the coin is seen from different angles. Over 200,000 “trail coins” were given to businesses and retailers in the wake of the official release on 28 March. Coin collectors already want to get their hands on them, even though the Royal Mint stated that the coins don’t have legal tender status or redeemable value.
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