New pound coins in 2017

[Alan71]

According to BBC Wales, 169 million round pound coins have not yet been returned. Approximately 138 million round pound coins of the total of 1.5 billion that were returned were melted down and the alloys used to make the 12-sided counterpart.

In the grand scheme of things it isn't all that many.  In 1984, 146 million were issued.  Looking at it like that, it would mean every £1 for all other dates 1983, 1985 to 2015 have been returned.  Plus that 139 million includes coins deliberately saved (I've probably got at least 100 myself).

[eurocoin]

It appears that for at least 6 months there already have been counterfeit new 1 pound coins in circulation. For a long time there was uncertainty about this as none of the finders of the coins wanted to have their piece professionally examined. A photo of one of these counterfeit pieces can be found above. It has 15 reeds on the edge instead of 13, the latent image doesn't work properly, there is no micro lettering around he rim and it is lighter and larger than a genuine pound coin. One of the visible characteristics of it is the die crack under the lettering "one pound". An attempt to locate the counterfeiting ring by mapping the finds of the coins, a method that has proven its reliability in the past, was in this case to no avail. Based on the alloys used it is safe to assume the ring is located somewhere in Europe. The pieces will be XRF tested and will possibly also tested by The Royal Mint to see if they have the high security feature embedded into them. This is so far the only known type of counterfeit new 1 pound coin.

Images and research not my own, conclusion my own.

[FosseWay]

You have to wonder why they go to the trouble of forging the £1 coin, with all its added security features, when the £2 has fewer such features and yields twice the profit.

That said, I've only ever come across one fake £2 in the wild (I've seen a handful of others in the possession of collectors) compared to literally hundreds of fake brass £1s.

[eurocoin]

XRF testing has shown the counterfeit pieces are of a different metallic composition. Furthermore the pieces failed testing on a neodymium slide as can be seen here. One counterfeit piece was cut into half which proved it to be made out of a ring and core.

You have to wonder why they go to the trouble of forging the £1 coin, with all its added security features, when the £2 has fewer such features and yields twice the profit.

I agree with you. I had not expected there to be any counterfeit new 1 pound coins for a long time. Because of that combined with the fact that the quality standards at the Royal Mint have slipped miserably in recent years, I for a long time thought these were just substandard or worn genuine new 1 pound coins.

[eurocoin]

The Royal Mint continues to refuse to say whether the 1 pound coin will again be used for commemoratives.

[Alan71]

The Royal Mint continues to refuse to say whether the 1 pound coin will again be used for commemoratives.

It never has been a commemorative coin, but you mean rotating series depicting the individual countries of the UK.   It would be nice to see, but only if they go back to how they did it before 2008 (one coin each year with the standard design only re-appearing in the year after the series completes).  I wouldn't want to see the standard plus two coins for a series in the same year as happened after 2008, but somehow I think that's more likely.

[Figleaf]

I like the term "pictorials" proposed by FosseWay here. It is more generic and easier to type than "rotating series depicting the individual countries of the UK."

Peter

[eurocoin]

The British Antarctic Territory is going to introduce a new 12-sided 1 pound. The coin will have the same specifications and security features as the 12-sided 1 pound coin of the UK. The coin will be produced at the Pobjoy Mint and it is likely that the denomination will only be used for NCLT.

[eurocoin]

The counterfeiting ring in Glasgow that has for years been producing counterfeit 2 pound coins has now also started the production of counterfeit new 1 pound coins. It is the second type of fake of the new 1 pound coin. The other one can be seen a few messages above.

[africancoins]

That is more likely a third type....

There is apparently a type that has a rather dull centre piece, has artificial wear and is of a lower quality... circulating towards the end of 2018.

Thanks Mr Paul Baker

[eurocoin]

I am not aware of any such piece. There is a piece that is believed to possibly be a different type of fake but only 1 specimen was ever found that looks like this and some doubts remain about whether it is authentic or not. It was found in circulation in the same area as the first -crude- type of fake.

So, the 2 types shown in this topic are the only types of which there is consensus that they are indeed fake.

[africancoins]

I found an image of a reverse.

What does this look like ?

Thanks Mr Paul Baker

[eurocoin]

No, that is not fake. One of the most likely ways in which a coin starts to look like that is because it has been through the recycling process and after that has been recovered. During the recycling process the garbage is often being treated with acids. The coin has subsequently been sent back to the UK from the faraway banana republic where the UK sends its garbage to. There are dealers in European countries who buy these damaged coins in bulk from the foreign scrapyards for below face value and then deposit them or bring them back into circulation in alternative ways in their own country.

[MCz]

I'm not sure if the topic was already here or not (33 pages of discussion about 1 Pound) but these coins has different varietes on small shield with £ sign there is different number od vertical lines:
2016 - 24 lines
2017 - 24 lines (but I know also 20 exist)
2018 - 20 lines
2019 - 20 lines
2020 - 15 lines
2021 - 15 lines

So 2022 only 11 or 10?
Do you know why this number decreased and it was done even twice?

All photos below are BUNC coins, still in Royal Mint sets, bought directly from RM so I guess all are genuines. 2018 is also 20 lines, new 2021 is also 15 only. I don't have 2016 and for 2017 has only one visible but my friend has both.

[redlock]

Very interesting. 

I will be checking my £1 coins (which were picked from circulation) soon.