Pounds

With the news that over 3% of pound coins are fakes I decided to check my bunny bank to see if I had any. Fortunately they all appear to be genuine but it was announced today that a new 12 sided pound coins will be introduced in 2017.

The current £1 coin was introduced in 1983 as part of the phasing-out of the £1 note, which was withdrawn five years later (in England but not Scotland)
Of the 1.5 billion estimated to be in circulation, as many as two million counterfeit ones are removed every year.
A new £1 coin, billed by the Royal Mint as the "most secure coin in the world", is to be introduced in 2017.
The move comes amid concerns about the 30-year old coin's vulnerability to counterfeiting, with an estimated 45 million forgeries in circulation.
The new coin is based on the design of the old threepenny bit, a 12-sided coin in circulation between 1937 and 1971.
As with all British coins the Queen’s effigy will be on the “heads” side, while the Treasury has said there will be a public competition to decide the design for the “tails” side.


I notice that there are 3 coins depicting upside down, the official badge of the capital cities of the UK but not of Edinburgh in Scotland. Frequently there seem to be commemorative coins and the most recent issued this year are the floral emblems of Ireland and Scotland but I have not yet seen any.