New One Pound Coin Coming Soon – Can I use old pound coins?

As the New Year rolls round, it signals the end of time for the long standing UK pound coin. The UK mint and banks are calling upon the public to take note that when the new one pound coin arrives in March, the old one pound coins will have a limited time before they’re no longer accepted. In fact, the old UK one pound coin will cease to be legal tender in October 2017. To use the Royal Mint’s own tagline “The pound won’t be round for much longer”.

Why replace the old UK one pound coins?

Simply put, the UK is flooded with counterfeit one pound coins. In any given home there’s around a 4% chance any old one pound coin you have in your wallet or piggy bank is fake. It’s been around for 30 years, easy to fake and the UK mint has decided it’s time for a tougher and more secure coin. Hence, March 24th will see the arrival of the new one pound coin – the world’s most secure coin.

What is the new pound coin like?

The new coin will completely confuse primary school maths lessons for a start as it’s no longer round. That’s why the tagline “The pound won’t be round for much longer” has been used. It will have 12 sides, be made of two metal of differing colour; just like the current £2 coin.

The really cool bit I’m looking forward to is it will feature a hologram-like latent image. This means from different angles you’ll be able to see either the number “1” or the symbol “£”. You can view some of the details in the video below. The milled edges on the 12 sides will also make it easily identifiable for those visually impaired.

[arve url=”https://youtu.be/i-4OcuFzZ8E” align=”center” title=”The New One Pound Coin Design” description=”Imagery of the new £1 one pound coin” maxwidth=”28″/]

New pound coin, that’s great but can I use old pound coins?

When the new coin arrives on March 24th, you’ll see no immediate effect apart from the mint slowly taking old stock out of circulation. However, if you have old coins in piggy banks, wallets, drawers, tins or even down the back of the sofa you’ll need to dig them out by the Autumn otherwise they’ll be worthless from a currency point of view. Although some rarer old one pound designs, if they’re not fake, might actually become collectable if in good condition. Also, the first new one pound coins released will again be likely worth more than their face-value in the future. You will still be able to pay in old one pound coins to certain banks and the Post Office though.

I’m off to do the “back of the sofa” check in our house. Will I find an old pound coin? who knows but please go search yours and let me know if you’re richer after the sofa hunt.