How the "hidden high security feature"* in the new £1 coin works is covered here:<p><a href="https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/53673/how-does-the-authentication-in-the-new-uk-£1-coin-work" rel="nofollow">https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/53673/how-does-...</a><p>* Royal Mint’s new anti-counterfeiting technology, which can be authenticated by high-speed automated detection, was called Integrated Secure Identification Systems (ISIS) - but for obvious reasons, they've stopped using that name.
As a UK citizen, it stuns me that one-in-thirty pound coins is a fake because a) i can't imagine how it's possibly worth it b) out of the thousands of pound coins i must have handled, I've never spotted a fake - they must be very good. Still, the new coin certainly looks nice!
For any interested in the related costs:<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/mar/19/cost-new-pound-coin-business" rel="nofollow">https://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/mar/19/cost-new-pound...</a><p>Seems like there are £45m worth of counterfeit coins in circulation, but the switch may cost over £100 million.<p>____<p>EDIT: The percent of fake coins in circulation appears to be in flux, which makes me wonder what methods they use to estimate the fakes in circulation, if they use controls like injecting known fakes into the count to see if they are spotted, if the sample is truly random, the maths is correct, etc.:<p>1% 2004 [1]<p>3.03% May 2014 [2]<p>2.55% May 2015 [2]<p>Of note is that the Royal Mint states in the 2016 annual report that the last survey for fakes was in May 2015, but the report was issued in July 2016, which means at least as of that date they failed to do the annual survey; or at least publish the results.[3]<p>[1] <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/10707540/How-can-I-spot-a-fake-1-coin.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/10707540/...</a><p>[2] <a href="http://www.royalmint.com/discover/uk-coins/counterfeit-one-pound-coins" rel="nofollow">http://www.royalmint.com/discover/uk-coins/counterfeit-one-p...</a><p>[3] <a href="http://www.royalmint.com/~/media/Files/AnnualReports/ar_2015_2016.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://www.royalmint.com/~/media/Files/AnnualReports/ar_2015...</a>
> "Approximately one in thirty £1 coins in circulation is a counterfeit."<p>That took me completely by surprise. Is there really that much of a market in counterfeit coins? The profit margins just seem so modest relative to counterfeit bills.
Funnily, the new "most secure" pound will be introduced one day before a pretty big event, Mrs. May's Article 50 invocation, which widely predicted to devalue the pound significantly.<p>You might buy new pounds as "secure" coins, but you'll probably some percentage of their value the next day...
Another possible recent security feature is a polymer ring: <a href="http://news.coinupdate.com/germany-introduces-next-generation-polymer-ring-circulation-coin-for-2016/" rel="nofollow">http://news.coinupdate.com/germany-introduces-next-generatio...</a>
It reminds me of the old threepenny (prounounced "thrupny") bit: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threepence_%28British_coin%29" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threepence_%28British_coin%29</a>
Wow: <i>"Approximately one in thirty £1 coins in circulation is a counterfeit."</i><p>I have about a dozen £1 coins in my informal 'collection of currency from other places' bag and it looks like 2 of them are probably counterfeit (at least by the standards of the Royal Mint) one clearly is, the date and back picture don't match, the other has fairly poor milling around it.
> Hidden high security feature – a high security feature is built into the coin to protect it from counterfeiting in the future.<p>"security through obscurity" as a feature?
Some of the dual metal build coins suffer from faults when they are exposed to cold environments. Once can test for this by placing the coin inside a freezer and observing one of the metals shrink to the point where it disconnects from the other part of the coin.<p>There are much older examples of latent image technology on coins, for example Russian 10 ruble circa year 2000 (look at the middle area of the '0' character): <a href="https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/coin-rubles-russian-commemorative-edition-31451612.jpg" rel="nofollow">https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/coin-rubles-russian-commemor...</a>
It looks like a nicer version of the 1 euro coin. I like that the coin isn't round but 12-sided, which will certainly help visually impaired people use the coin. I wonder if they will introduce a new 6-sided 50p coin.
Is it a curve of constant width like the 20p and 50p? If its sides are straight it cannot be.<p>Also from wiki:<p>> The new design is intended to make counterfeiting more difficult, via an undisclosed hidden security feature, called 'iSIS' (Integrated Secure Identification Systems). [1]<p>Huh.<p>[1]: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_pound_(British_coin)" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_pound_(British_coin)</a>
What I don't get is why we need coins anymore?
Can't they just make £1 pound note same to the £5 one?
I am always annoyed when I got coins on me and I never pay attention to them. Why not make £1 worth more by making it a note? Why not move away from notes nowadays? Is there any specific reason to that?<p>Is there just too much metal sitting around that they thought that would be an ok use of it?
> Hidden high security feature – a high security feature is built into the coin to protect it from counterfeiting in the future.<p>I bet there's an RFID in each coin that uniquely identifies each one. If true, it'd also let them (or a thief!) identify the total value of the coins jingling in your pocket.<p>> Approximately one in thirty £1 coins in circulation is a counterfeit.<p>That seems incredibly high! Anyone have comparable stats for US dollar bills or 1 Euro coins?<p>> The legal tender status of the round £1 coin will be withdrawn on 15th October 2017. From this date shops will no longer accept these coins, but you will still be able to take them to your bank. We would encourage you to use your coins or return them to your bank before 15th October.<p>Six-months is a pretty short window for something like this.<p>What prevents a shop from accepting the coins after Oct 15th and then <i>they</i> take it to the bank?<p>Also, how does the 1/30 fraud number impact the returns of the current pound notes?
Many commenters in this thread are speculating on how counterfeiters are inserting the, apparently large volume of, counterfeit coins. Maybe one source is actually unrepudible /merchants/. In dispensing change to customers, market participants it would seem be less likely to scrutinize the coinage.
That coin is a beauty. It looks like it would be a denomination much higher than £1.<p>As someone who collected coins a child, I've been a tad disappointed by some of the newer designs coming out of the US Mint. Some are classy, others seem a bit goofy.<p>But this new pound coin is very tasteful. Well done, Royal Mint!
Canada has an 11-sided 1 dollar coin (the loonie) and a bimetallic 2 dollar coin (the toonie). This new £1 coin is basically a mash-up of the two.<p>Fair warning: People are going to put these things in pneumatic presses, hit them with sledge-hammers, etc. and then claim their brand new £1 coins are defective and "just fell apart". You should probably ignore these people. I'd be very surprised if the Royal Mint hadn't talked to the Canadian Mint and made sure they know how to make these things absolutely bomber.
Looks a bit like the failed US Susan B Anthony $1 coin. <a href="https://en.numista.com/catalogue/photos/etats-unis/g1288.jpg" rel="nofollow">https://en.numista.com/catalogue/photos/etats-unis/g1288.jpg</a>
Why not make the new £1 coin Euro compatible? Despite Brexit and all, it would make so much sense to share the same dimensions for the pound and the Euro.<p>Old pound: diameter 22.5 mm, thickness 3.15 mm.<p>New pound: diameter 22.63 - 23.43mm [1], thickness 2.8 mm.<p>Euro: diameter 23.25 mm, thickness 2.33 mm.<p>So close and yet so different! Why??!?<p>Edit: Okay, I'm not sure why I saw "so much sense" in having the pound and the Euro the same size. I go to the UK often and hate having different coin sizes in my pockets, but obviously the pound and the Euro aren't the same value, so there's no real reason they should be of the same size...<p>[1] Since the new pound isn't round but dodecagonal, the diameter isn't constant; the smallest value is the diameter of the incircle and the other value, the diameter of the circumcircle.
How much lighter is the new coin? I have to say, the old £1 coin is my favorite I have ever seen in the world. It had a great heft/weight/size to it.
I don't like it.<p><a href="http://www.thesunsetlounge.co.uk/Images/PoundedPound.jpg" rel="nofollow">http://www.thesunsetlounge.co.uk/Images/PoundedPound.jpg</a>
I like the optimism of keeping symbols of Ireland and Scotland on the coin. Of course, those could become ironic in the not-to-distant. The leek seems safe, though.
> a high security feature is built into the coin to protect it from counterfeiting in the future.<p>Reminds me of the Indian Rupee 2000 'gps feature'
They probably should have continued using the letters. The more things called ISIS the less important those letters are to any one thing, including the terrorist org.
The website for the most secure coin in the world only gets a B rating from ssllabs: <a href="https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=www.thenewpoundcoin.com" rel="nofollow">https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=www.thenewpou...</a>
What is the difference between counterfeit and "original" coins? Unless they have 1 pound of silver in them they're all fake money.<p>I think everybody should just accept and use counterfeit coins, if they look like the coins issued by the central bank.