The government has unveiled a new 12-sided £1 coin, which HM Treasury believes will reduce counterfeiting and ensure the integrity of the UK’s currency.
The official estimate from the Treasury is that around 3% of the £1 coins in current circulation are fake, and they hope that new technologies used to manufacture the proposed new design will make such counterfeiting much more difficult.
The new coin will be constructed form two different coloured metals and contain Integrated Secure Identification Systems (ISIS), which takes some of the security measures used in banknotes, and implements them in coins for the first time according to the Royal Mint.
A public consultation about the new coin will be held over the summer, and a public design competition will be held at a later date to choose the design for the “tails” of the coin.
The new coin, which many have commented is the same shape as the old Threepenny bit is expected to go into circulation in 2017.
