Farewell round pound

This week saw the arrival of the new, more secure 12-sided one pound coin as the Royal Mint tries to combat the prevalence of counterfeits. Although these have been in circulation since Tuesday, you are unlikely to spot one for about another month.

The familiar dimensions, curvature and weight of the 1983 coin have been replaced with a thinner, lighter, wider bimetallic gold and silver coloured version with more advanced security elements.

The Royal Mint is calling this “the most secure coin in the world”, with state-of-the-art design. Features include an intricate latent hologram image beneath the Queen’s profile, micro-lettering on the inner edge and an undisclosed feature as a final method of protection against forgery.

Given that this ‘secret’ technology requires patenting, in all likelihood it is an adaptation of the techniques already in use. One prediction is that the new coins may glow under ultraviolet light as modern banknotes do.

Although it may not be the most sophisticated use of technology within currencies, it is exciting to see the humble pound brought up to date and we look forward to coming across the dodecagon coin in our change.