Staff Reporter
As the Royal Mint introduces a new £1 coin to tackle forgeries, here are 10 things we know about the pound.
1. The new 12-sided coin has a gold-coloured outer ring and a silver-coloured centre.
2. It features the fifth coinage portrait of the Queen, and is designed by Jody Clark.
:: New high-tech £1 coin to edge out old pound in bid to tackle forgeries
3. It includes a latent image which, like a hologram, changes from a “£” to a “1” when seen from different angles.
4. The design for the new pound coin includes a rose, a thistle, a leek and a shamrock to reflect the four parts of the UK. In the past there have been 25 different designs on the pound coin.
5. It is lighter than the old pound coin weighing just 8.75g and is thinner at 2.8mm, but it slightly wider with a maximum diameter of 23.43mm.
6. The coin is designed to be the most secure in the world. According to the Royal Mint it has a “hidden high security feature” built into it to protect from counterfeiting in the future.
7. The Royal Mint is producing 1.5 billion of the new pound coins, churning out three million every day at the Royal Mint in Llantrisant, South Wales.
8. Consumers have until 15 October to spend or return their old pound coins, some of which will be melted down and reused to make the new £1 coin.
9. Around two billion pound coins have entered circulation since they were first introduced in 1983, replacing the £1 banknote as the value of a pound decreased.
10. Around £1.3 billion worth of coins are stored in saving jars across the country and the current £1 coin is thought to account for nearly a third of these.