New 12 Sided £1 Coin Being Introduced in the UK

The Royal Mint has a new 12 sided one pound coin that is will be released into the market in March 2017 with more enhanced security features.

Looking indomitable with the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, the new £1 coin is not only more secure but is impressive to look at as well. 1.5 billion of these coins are set to begin circulating in March 2017.

What will happen to the old, all round coins? These will be phased out of circulation and already, members of the public are being urged to bank them or spend them. By October 15, 2017, the old coins will no longer be legal tender.

The Importance of this Coin

It all comes down to one thing, security. This coin has featured that are difficult to fake on the front, back, and edges. When the threat of counterfeiting is eliminated or minimized, the likelihood of losses for both businesses and the government decreases.

The 12 sided new pound coin comes with an intricate design of four national floral emblems of rose, thistle, leek, and shamrock for England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, respectively. Such details are believed to be a detractor to forging.

There is a pack of more features that are going to make this coin difficult to illegally reproduce. For example, there are fine lines cut into the alternating sides of the coin as well as micro letterings on the rims of the coin. There is also a hologram effect with a symbol that reads as 1 or £ depending on the angle from which it is viewed.

The coin is bimetallic, made of two metals. The inner ring is nickel-plated alloy that is colored silver while the outside ring is nickel-brass that is gold colored.

The First Redesign in 20+ Years

Since 1983, this is the first time that the Pound has been redesigned. How is the public taking to this new coin that is set to enter the economy in March 2017? People within various segments of the economy have some concerns. For example, business people who run coin operated vending machines, washing machines, and so on are worried that the machines may not accept the new coins. The Treasury counters this by saying that they have worked closely with the Royal Mint to ensure that there will be no glitches in business as a result of these coins.

New Coin Inspired by 15 Year Old’s Design

The dodecagon (a 12-sided shape) coin was implemented after the design of a 15-year old boy. David Pearce won the public competition to design the new coin. One thing that led to the designing of the new coin is that in every 40 one-pound coins in the market, one was discovered to be fake. The new security features on the new coin are going to make the circulation of fake coins extremely difficult.

Other New Coins to Look Forward To

This time around, it is not only the 12 sided coin that is set to be released. Other coins are slated to enter circulation too in the United Kingdom. For example, there is a new 2-Pound coin that will bear the portrait of famous author Jane Austen while simultaneously honoring the Royal Flying Corps who fought for Britain in the WW1. The 50-Pence coin will bear the portrait of Sir Isaac Newton who is credited with introducing a means of valuing the currency of a nation, the gold standard.  These coins are expected to be introduced into the economy in the spring of 2017.

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