Pimp My Pound! Royal Mint Gives £1 Coin A Modern Twist And Robust Security

The £1 coin as we know it is soon to be given a facelift, according to the Royal Mint. This summer, a public consultation will take place before the final decision is made on specific factors such as the shape of the new coin and even the metal it is made from.

New £1 Coin

The new £1 coin isn’t just undergoing a visual makeover. There are some high tech talks going on behind closed doors regarding the security of the new coin. The Royal Mint has been working hard to develop a coin security system that will make counterfeiting the new coin much harder and that will help to secure the new coins as they circulate around the world.

Fancy Yourself A Coin Designer?

Of course, there are only certain aspects of the design that can be changed. The size needs to largely stay to same so that the coin can fit into parking meters, slot machines and the good old shopping trolley. The Queen’s head also needs to be featured, but if you want to try your hand at designing a new ‘tails’ side of the coin, a public design competition will be launched soon and we’ll be bringing you news of that and also news of the introduction of the coin, expected to be in 2017.

The design proposed for the new £1 coin is going to be distinctly British. Featuring twelve sides, the coin will bring back memories of the threepence piece that was legal tender before decimalisation.

Stopping Forgers In Their Tracks

The coin will be made from two different coloured metals and contain new security features that will make it harder for forgeries to be made. The iSIS security feature is a revolutionary new coin security system developed at the Royal Mint.

The Integrated Secure Identification Systems (iSIS) has been designed to make the entire cash cycle more secure. The aim of the system is to protect retailers, the public, the banking system, vending machine operators and the coins themselves. We will bring you more information about iSIS in a later post as it really makes for interesting reading.

George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, said, “After thirty years loyal service, the time is right to retire the current £1 coin, and replace it with the most secure coin in the world. With advances in technology making high value coins like the £1 ever more vulnerable to counterfeiters, it’s vital that we keep several paces ahead of the criminals to maintain the integrity of our currency. I am particularly pleased that the coin will take a giant leap into the future, using cutting edge British technology while at the same time, paying tribute to the past in the 12-sided design of the iconic threepenny bit.”

Exchange Your Old Fashioned Currency Here!

With the new polymer bank notes and the new security for the £1 coin, it’s only a matter of time before our old less secure coins go out of circulation, and when they do you can be sure Cash4Coins will be here to exchange them for you. We offer foreign currency exchange services for all coins that are no longer legal tender no matter what their country of origin.

 

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