UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has announced plans to introduce a new £1 coin that will help the government reduce counterfeiting and ensure integrity of UK’s currency.
The coin is expected to be introduced in 2017.
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The Royal Mint has produced a prototype for a replacement £1 coin. The new 12-sided coin resembles the old threepence piece and features multiple layers of anti-counterfeiting technology that would allow the government to quickly reduce the rate of counterfeit coins.
The Royal Mint will work with other industry stakeholders to evaluate the potential impact for industry.
A public consultation and design competition will be held to finalise the choose the design for the reverse, or ‘tails’,
Osborne said with advances in technology making high value coins like the £1 ever more vulnerable to counterfeiters, it is vital that they keep several paces ahead of the criminals to maintain the integrity of their currency.
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By GlobalDataThe Royal Mint CEO, Adam Lawrence, said the current £1 coin design is now more than thirty years old and it has become increasingly vulnerable to counterfeiting over time.
"It is our aim to identify and produce a pioneering new coin which helps to reduce the opportunities for counterfeiting, helping to boost public confidence in the UK’s circulating coins," Lawrence added.
The Royal Mint noted that the proposed coin will be the most secure circulating coin in the world to date.
