back to article Blighty starts pumping out 12-sided quids

The Royal Mint has begun pumping out the fetching 12-sided pound coins which will hit the UK's streets in March next year. The retro-styled nugget - which pays homage to the classic threepenny bit - is rolling off the production line at the rate of 4,000 a minute. It's heralded as "the world’s most secure coin in circulation …

  1. Paratrooping Parrot
    Facepalm

    Today????

    Really??? Why is the coin dated 2014?

    1. LesB

      Re: Today????

      The images are the same ones used when the new coin was announced in 2014...

      http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/03/19/new_pound_coin_12_sides_threepenny/

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Today????

        ..and why must every announcement from the UK always say "Britain leading the world, world's best, world leading, world's most...."

        Often it's clearly not true and often it turns into a fiasco.... why not just say, in this case, "with greatly improved security" or "with a cunning system designed to reduce counterfeiting".

        Oh well, let's hope this one turns out OK.

        1. Roq D. Kasba

          Re: Today????

          Turns out we're actually pretty good at coins though, and the anticounterfit technology is being appraised by other countries - so may be a genuine export area.

          1. Pedigree-Pete
            Pint

            Re: Today????

            The guys who print £ UK sterling paper currency also print for many foreign currencies so we're already pretty good at "exporting". Good job Kent(?). PP

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: Today????

              Turns out we're actually pretty good at coins though

              I've always thought we were pretty good at thrupenny bits.

              1. cortland

                Re: Today????

                I was just a lad when Dad was stationed in Wiltshire with the USAF, but I remember the three-penny bits.

                And I wonder, too. Is this a bow to truth in advertising? Given inflation,mightn't the Pound be now worth what thruppence was then?

                Scary thought.

                1. Solmyr ibn Wali Barad

                  Re: Today????

                  "Given inflation,mightn't the Pound be now worth what thruppence was then?"

                  Not exactly, but close enough. 80 thruppences = one decimal pound by 1971 decimal conversion. By consumer price indexes there has been roughly 1:40 price increase between 1946 and 2015.

                  So one 1946 thruppence would be worth half a quid these days . For 1:80 CPI ratio we have to go back to 1916.

        2. werdsmith Silver badge

          Re: Today????

          .and why must every announcement from the UK always say

          "every" ?

          You make a point about hyperbole and use the word "every" ?

        3. The bigger, blacker box.

          Re: Today????

          Actually the UK mints coins for many other countries, and is actually largest exporter of minted foreign currency in the world - it's been doing it for centuries.

          There's a few unusual "accidents" whereby a coin has had two different countries sides when dies have been mixed up (known as a mule), not as common as something like the undated 20p, and much easier to spot than the very rare 1970 halfpenny with the early obverse but usually rare enough to suspect it wasn't completely accidental.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Lester, old boy, you're slipping - you passed up the perfect opportunity to (re)use the word 'dodecaquid'

    For shame ;-)

    1. Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

      Ah, but wait...

      "The shiny new pound has been well received, apart from predictable grumblings from vending machine manufacturers about the cost of converting their kit to accept the dodecaquid."

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Ha!

    April Fool!

    1. cbars Bronze badge

      Re: Ha!

      Nah. I doubt .gov is collaborating with theregister.

      Follow the links in the article. .gov post is from yesterday (March 31)

    2. Danny 14

      Re: Ha!

      nah, its just gyspy coin clipping.

  4. JimmyPage Silver badge
    Coat

    iSIS

    O'reilly ?

    1. Tom Wood

      Re: iSIS

      They actually seem to have quietly dropped that name since 2014 - the link from the article redirects to a different page. Can't think why.

      The potential security features are intriguing though. Could the coins, rather than being just a lump of metal, actually contain some kind of chip?

      1. Tom Wood

        Re: iSIS

        http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/royal-mint-forced-change-name-7657745

      2. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

        Re: iSIS

        "They actually seem to have quietly dropped that name since 2014 ... "

        Yep. After a couple of Predator drones started to circle the mint.

        Target selection by algorithm isn't quite perfected yet.

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: iSIS

        Most coins have basic "counterfeit" measures, even the humble £1 coin as it is.

        http://www.royalmint.com/discover/uk-coins/counterfeit-one-pound-coins

        Same as notes, most people know about the ribbon, but ask them about folding up the note and the actual denomination hologram and they will be baffled.

      4. Mike Moyle

        Re: iSIS

        "Could the coins, rather than being just a lump of metal, actually contain some kind of chip?"

        They've chipped Her Maj? My, your Royals certainly don't get the respect they used to!

        1. James O'Shea
          Childcatcher

          Re: iSIS

          "They've chipped Her Maj? My, your Royals certainly don't get the respect they used to!"

          She's a valuable tourist attraction, easily worth her weight in gold. Gotta keep track of where she goes in case she gets lost or stolen or something.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: iSIS

      That's how you get ants.

  5. DaveyDaveDave

    April Fool

    "ground-breaking technology, developed in Wales"

    -- brilliant :)

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

    2. channel extended
      Paris Hilton

      Re: April Fool

      Isn't ground breaking technology usually call a shovel?

      1. Dave 126 Silver badge

        Re: April Fool

        >Isn't ground breaking technology usually call a shovel?

        I'd call it a spade. A shovel is used for, er, shovelling material that is already loose like sand, snow or gravel, whereas a spade will cut into mud, clay, turf and the like.

        Harder substrates - rocks - will call for picks, bars, explosives and other handy tools.

        1. bep

          Re: April Fool

          Mattocks!

          1. Fraggle850

            Re: April Fool

            Hoe

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Parking and Vending Machines

    Why don't they use it as an excuse to retrofit them all with contactless technology and largely do away with coins? I'm sick and tired of having to have the right cash in hand to park at hospitals or stations...

    And given that even 8 year old kids can get their hands on contactless cards, I don't buy that they're not ubiquitous enough. Fitting contactless to most parking meters would probably mean they need to be emptied an order of magnitude less often, which would surely pay for itself anyway.

    In fact, if kids could only use contactless cards on vending machines, that would be a bonus - I frittered away so much money on crap from vending machines when I was a kid that my parents were clueless about - if I'd had to use a contactless card which reported back to my parents everything I was spending, I'd have been far healthier and more careful with my money...

    1. SundogUK Silver badge

      Re: Parking and Vending Machines

      if I'd had to use a contactless card which reported back to THE GOVERNMENT everything I was spending, I'd have been far healthier and more careful with my money...

      FIFY.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Parking and Vending Machines

        Take the tinfoil hat off you tosspot...

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Parking and Vending Machines

          Take the Anonymous Coward mask off you tosspot...

          1. This post has been deleted by its author

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: Parking and Vending Machines

              @Symon No, my real name is Mike. I'm going to guess that yours is probably Simon.

          2. Mpeler
            Gimp

            Re: Parking and Vending Machines - take the AC mask off

            He was embarrassed - his name is Pizzpot Gargravarr...

    2. This post has been deleted by its author

      1. Uplink

        Re: Parking and Vending Machines

        I think it can work. I used substitution: "It doesn't exist everywhere enough" and it seems to work. It's a measure of density per unit of everywhere.

        1. Mpeler

          Re: Parking and Vending Machines

          But how much is that in millwales?

      2. Mpeler
        Holmes

        Re: Parking and Vending Machines

        Don't worry, some advertising agency will come up with a campaign touting their ubiquitouser uniquenessess...

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Parking and Vending Machines

      "parents everything I was spending, I'd have been far healthier and more careful with my money..."

      Or by wasting money on crap, you learn responsibility, without having to rely on you parents to do it for you.

    4. ad47uk

      Re: Parking and Vending Machines

      Why not use both? Not all of us like contactless, I stay well clear of it.

      1. Mpeler
        Coat

        Re: Parking and Vending Machines

        Contactless - takes the worry out of being close (cf. 1970s commercial).

        Also works for social media...

    5. John Sturdy

      Re: Parking and Vending Machines

      Because it would have to be online, which requires either installing a wired connection, or paying for mobile data?

      Plus the privacy concerns, of course, as raised by others.

    6. Chloe Cresswell Silver badge

      Re: Parking and Vending Machines

      I don't mind electronic payment for parking.

      I use multiple systems. But I don't have a contactless card...

  7. Yugguy

    Produced in 2016

    Finally accepted by your local council car park in 2026.

    1. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge

      Re: Produced in 2016

      In the meantime, all the parking machines get blocked up with the new coins giving the users the excuse not to pay the truly outrageous fees that many conncils use these days.

      and in other news

      Businesses in the high st report an upturn in trade that coindsides with the problems with the parking machines.

      Cause and effect?

  8. frank ly

    But, but

    Old people like me might confuse them with thrup'ny bits and be cheated by unscrupulous people. I don't like this modern world.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      But on the bright side...

      Every time you're paying you can break into reminiscences about thrupnee bits and how that was a lot of pocket money back then and how many sherbet gollywogs it would have bought and how ride the young people in the ever-lengthening queue behind you are...

      1. Bloakey1

        Re: But on the bright side...

        As far as I know, if thrupenny bits are on display then ISIS will sureley ensure that they are out of circulation.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      @frank ly Re: But, but

      Isn't thrup'ny bits cockney rhyming slang for bulgarian airbags? You must know some very odd ladies.

      1. Bloakey1

        Re: @frank ly But, but

        You are indeed correct, thruppeny bits refers to lady protuberances and there is udderly <sic> no other interpretation of this since the demise of the coin in question.

        1. Mpeler
          Coat

          Re: @frank ly But, but

          See the birds... Thruppence, thruppence, thruppence a bag...

    3. Scroticus Canis

      Re: But, but

      The old thuppence and the new quid probably do have the same relative buying power for their respective times!

      1. SImon Hobson Bronze badge

        Re: But, but

        > The old thuppence and the new quid probably do have the same relative buying power ...

        You beat me to it, it's probably a sign of the amount of inflation over those years. Thinking back at what I could buy with thruppence, it was less than I can buy with a quid now - so not quite equivalent, but also not that far off ! And at the local flicks, they are showing some retro adverts - the one relevant to this is for Fry's Chocolate Cream which was clearly "1/-" (ie 4 thruppences) on the paper sleeve in the ad, but's its less than 4 quid now.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Still 60,000 *working* payphones in the U.K.?

    That must be the "April Fool"...

  10. imanidiot Silver badge

    counterfeit pound coins

    Is that really a problem? I cant really see a crim making much profit on that enterprise. And shifting any meaningful amount of them for laundering would be a project in itself.

    1. Loyal Commenter Silver badge

      Re: counterfeit pound coins

      I was passed a lead pound coin in some change once. It must have been almost two decades ago. Given inflation, the cost of the lead and gold spray paint, it probably doesn't make it profitable to pass these on any more anyway, and if it still is, the people making these are only going to need to buy some putty, and a can of silver paint for spraying the middles before they can start casting good enough fakes of the new ones to pass over to shopkeepers again. The whole counterfeit currency argument sounds suspicious to me...

      1. Bloakey1

        Re: counterfeit pound coins

        <snip>

        "The whole counterfeit currency argument sounds suspicious to me..."

        But the ISIS involvement and all the other malarkey sounds plausible does it?

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: counterfeit pound coins

      The Mint regularly surveys the coins in circulation, and in May 2015 estimated from their survey that 2.55% of the £1 coins in circulation were counterfeit - which is something like 38 million coins. So somebody still finds it worthwhile producing fakes.

    3. jason 7

      Re: counterfeit pound coins

      I have a collection of about 20 of them that I have been given in change over the years. They got better and better as time progressed. The early ones were quite crude in comparison. If you have more than 5 or 6 quid coins in your pocket there is a pretty good chance one might be a fake. They never got the edge quite right.

      I mentioned to a friend I had better spend them before they are removed. He said "Oh it's illegal to spend counterfeit money and they aren't worth anything!"

      I just looked at him as if to say "Really?!?" and said "Well in my experience they are valid and accepted anywhere!"

      I have noticed a lot more shiny new 2015 pound coins in my change. I guess they are clearing all the stock into circulation before they are phased out.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: counterfeit pound coins

        Yup. Until just a few months ago, I was on a leccy meter that demanded pound coins in order to continue to supply me with 'leccy. You'd be startled how many pound coins wouldn't fit into the meter - and got spent at the same bunch of shops that'd given them me in change.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: counterfeit pound coins

          Youd be amazed. http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/northumberland-man-caught-half-million-9730044

          Anon because youd also be amazed that no one, not even the banks, check for fake pound coins. So just do the maths.

          1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

            Re: counterfeit pound coins

            "Anon because youd also be amazed that no one, not even the banks, check for fake pound coins. So just do the maths."

            I was using the auto tills in Morrisons once and got a couple of pound coins in change, Then I realised I'd forgotten something and went round again. £1.50 item. Put two pound coins in the machine and it rejected both of them. Three times. I had no other pound coins, they had to be the same ones I'd just got it change from their machine. So went to a human operated till and paid using the same coins there instead.

            It *may* be that the machine was faulty, but they did look a slightly odd colour.

            On the other hand, small shops will often check bank notes you give them with the ultraviolet pen and light trick but always seem to get upset if you ask them to check the note they are about to hand you.

            1. Tom 38

              Re: counterfeit pound coins

              The old-old 10Fr piece in France in the 80s/early 90s was almost the same shape and weight as a British 2p. The 10Fr was worth about a quid, and gave 5 goes on the arcade machines in the cafe in our campsite until someone noticed when they came to empty the coin hoppers... blatantly unfair to claim it was me, even if I was the only adolescent British male in the campsite...

              1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

                Re: counterfeit pound coins

                "The old-old 10Fr piece in France in the 80s/early 90s"

                Likewise the old 1DM in Germany (worth about 26p) was the same size and weight as the old shilling when still in circulation as a 5p coin. Many of us took a small coin bag along with us on school exchange visits for the vending machines and pinballs.

                Not as good as your 2p/10Fr deal though, but then we didn't get caught :-)

    4. Tom Wood

      Re: counterfeit pound coins

      Yes - depending on which article you read something like 30-45 million circulating pound coins are fake.

    5. DaLo

      Re: counterfeit pound coins

      It is a pretty significant problem. A handful of pound coins is likely to have a fake or two in it and in some areas they are a lot more common than that.

    6. Kubla Cant

      Re: counterfeit pound coins

      Counterfeit pounds do seem to exist, if the number of coins rejected by machines is any indication. Then again, a lot of 20p coins are rejected, and I really can't believe anyone's faking those.

      It's not just the cost of materials that makes it seem improbable. Assume you have £1000 in fake pound coins - how long will it take you to spend them and get the value back from the change? You'd be lucky to make the minimum wage.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        @Kubala Cant Re: counterfeit pound coins

        "It's not just the cost of materials that makes it seem improbable. Assume you have £1000 in fake pound coins - how long will it take you to spend them and get the value back from the change?"

        That's not how it works. Small shops buy bags of fake £1 coins and then use them for change given to customers.

    7. Bloakey1

      Re: counterfeit pound coins

      You would be surprised, I used to often come across lead filled snide pound coins and when I lived in France in the eighties, most of the larger coins were snide as well.

      The army even paid us in fake 500 franc notes. You would have the surreal experience of receiving your cash, moving to the bank on the next table and having some of the notes rejected. You were told to take them and "D'emmerde toi" or more literally in English to "unshit yourself" . A trip to the local bar / brothel / pizzaria normally cured the problem.

      Corsica and Marseiiles in the eighties, what joyous places.

    8. Tromos

      Re: counterfeit pound coins

      The problem of counterfeits wasn't exactly helped by the mint introducing almost as many designs as there were coins in circulation. I suspect that just about anything close to the right dimensions, colour and weight would pass.

      1. Neil Barnes Silver badge

        Re: counterfeit pound coins

        Gresham's Law taken to the extreme: when they're all as bad as each other, there is no good to drive them out.

        1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

          Re: counterfeit pound coins

          "Gresham's Law taken to the extreme: when they're all as bad as each other, there is no good to drive them out."

          Gresham's law is the other way round: bad money drives out good.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: counterfeit pound coins

        "The problem of counterfeits wasn't exactly helped by the mint introducing almost as many designs as there were coins in circulation"

        That's part of the anti-counterfeiting measures, less for us mortals, but often the design on the sides of fakes doesn't match the design on the faces.

    9. Fibbles

      Re: counterfeit pound coins

      I'm amazed they're still touting the use of 2 different metals as a security feature considering the amount of fake £2 coins around.

    10. Scroticus Canis
      Happy

      Re: counterfeit pound coins - Swazi lilangeni are real

      Swazi lilangeni are/were produced by the Royal Mint for the Swaziland government and are exactly the same size, weight and colour as the current pound coin; but you get 20+ of them at current exchange rates.

      Surprising how many visitors from the southern African countries had/have 'discounted' tube travel or vending machine purchases while in London.

      1. James O'Shea

        Re: counterfeit pound coins - Swazi lilangeni are real

        "wazi lilangeni are/were produced by the Royal Mint for the Swaziland government and are exactly the same size, weight and colour as the current pound coin; but you get 20+ of them at current exchange rates."

        In Yea Goode Olde Daze of the mid 1980s, Jamaican 10 cent coins (now sadly one with the dodo) were close to the size and weight of American 25 cent coins. As, at the time, the exchange rate was somewhere between five and ten Jamaican dollars to one US, many is the person who took a few Jamaican 10 center coins out on flights heading to Florida or Puerto Rico. After a while the vending machine companies which serviced machines at the airports got wise and rigged their machines to reject the Jamaican coins (and a percentage of quarters, causing much annoyance to those feeding actual American currency into the machines) but those further away didn't go to the trouble.

        Meanwhile, Jamaican vending machines happily accepted American coins, much to the amusement of locals in finding yet another way to make profits off of Great White Whales, a.k.a. tourists.

  11. anonymous boring coward Silver badge

    Nice try!

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Betty's looking good on those coins

    Let's hope she makes it to next year otherwise they'll have to melt them all down and get Charles' mug on them.

    1. Ken Hagan Gold badge

      Re: Betty's looking good on those coins

      Likewise, let's hope they don't have to rub out all those thistles.

  13. Lee D Silver badge

    Why would anyone produce a coin-testing device that can't be updated with a quick module change when there's new coinage?

    It's not like it hasn't happened before, and I imagine for most "big" installs it's nothing more than a software update.

    1. Vinyl-Junkie
      Go

      nothing more than a software update.

      Absolutely; I had experience with procuring some self-service machines a while back and the coin collectors were absolutely standard whether the currency was £ sterling, Azerbaijanian Manats or Flavian pobble beads*. Configuring them to accept the local currency was just a matter of setting the appropriate option (although in this instance it was DIP switches rather than software). The over-riding factor, as I understand it, is the weight of the coin.

      *I have yet to encounter a machine that will accept Ningis, though.

      1. Sooty

        Re: nothing more than a software update.

        if the coins were either round, or constant diameter, like all the current ones, then yes a software update would do it.

        The shape of these is the issue, as the diameter changes depending on where you measure it, so it depends on how they are validating the coins and ingesting them. If it's some combination of weight and an optical check, then it might be that easy, but as the shape means these aren't necessarily going to roll, this 'feature' could scupper a lot of systems.

        1. This post has been deleted by its author

        2. Vinyl-Junkie

          Re: nothing more than a software update.

          On the ones I was looking at, there was no "roll" beyond the initial insertion. The coins dropped vertically down a tube which narrowed in one direction but not the other (so the exit was a wide slot), to a sensor box, where they were scanned and weighed. Depending on the outcome, they were then dropped into the return slot, the relevant change tube, or the cash box, again by gravity. There is no more problem with handling these coins than there is handling a 50p or 20p piece (and, for example, distinguishing between a 20p and a 1p piece).

          A firmware update would be needed, either by updating from an external source with an "image" for the new coin (optical/magnetic scan characteristics) or by "training" the machines by putting them into a training mode, inserting a number of the new coins to provide a baseline scan result, and telling the machine (by means of a USB keyboard) what the value is and into which change hopper they should be sorted).

          1. POSitality

            Re: nothing more than a software update.

            AFAIK coin mechs haven't considered weight for years. As the coin drops through the tube its electromagnetic induction value is tested.

            The old trick of licking (ewww!) or rubbing a coin might actually affect it's induction value slightly.

      2. Loud Speaker

        Re: nothing more than a software update.

        The observant will note that it is quite difficult to update DIP switches from 23,000 miles away over the Internet. Some people care about security, though calling their Security feature iSIS, is probably less than clever.

  14. This post has been deleted by its author

  15. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

    counterfeit pound coins

    Easily fixed - join the Euro!

    *dives into bunker*

    1. Charlie Clark Silver badge

      Re: counterfeit pound coins

      Meanwhile, here in Germany, they're actually thinking of following the Dutch and the Finns and phasing out 1 and 2 cent coins which now cost more to make than they're worth.

      The market for snide coins is tiny, notes is where the money is at.

  16. graeme leggett Silver badge

    dodecaquid

    This word needs to be used as much as possible (once the coin is in circulation).

    Can it be added to the standard Register lexicon of weights and measures?

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Go

    ISIS security features?

    So if I have one of these coins, I'm protected from terrorists? Is this like the tiger prevention rock on the Simpsons?

    Homer: Not a bear in sight. The Bear Patrol must be working like a charm.

    Lisa: That’s specious reasoning, Dad.

    Homer: Thank you, dear.

    Lisa: By your logic I could claim that this rock keeps tigers away.

    Homer: Oh, how does it work?

    Lisa: It doesn’t work.

    Homer: Uh-huh.

    Lisa: It’s just a stupid rock.

    Homer: Uh-huh.

    Lisa: But I don’t see any tigers around, do you?

    [Homer thinks of this, then pulls out some money]

    Homer: Lisa, I want to buy your rock.

    1. Dave 126 Silver badge

      Re: ISIS security features?

      Homer: What's this Bear Tax?! Let the bears pay the Bear Tax, I pay the the Homer Tax!

      Lisa: Er dad, that's Home Owner Tax

  18. Will Godfrey Silver badge
    Meh

    Interesting

    ... that they chose the shape of the thruppenny bit. Although I guess the current pound is worth considerably less than the old 3d was.

    1. Vinyl-Junkie
      Pint

      Re: Interesting

      Using that old standby "the price of a pint" the value works out as follows:

      Value of a threepenny bit in 1971 - 1.25p

      Average price of a pint of session bitter in 1971 - 13p

      So you would have had to hand over 11 threepenny bits to buy a pint (and got a little change in return)

      Handing over £11 in most parts of the UK will buy you three pints of session bitter, so the £1 coin is worth approximately three times as much as the threepenny bit was when it was withdrawn.

      1. Loyal Commenter Silver badge

        Re: Interesting

        Handing over £11 in most parts of the UK will buy you three pints of session bitter, so the £1 coin is worth approximately three times as much as the threepenny bit was when it was withdrawn.

        ...or about the same in London.

        1. Vinyl-Junkie

          Re: Interesting

          "...or about the same in London."

          What are you drinking? Brew Dog? :)

          I have seen session bitter in London going for up to about £4.50 in pubs (more in "bars" and clubs) but where I live (20 miles outside the City) it's still possible to get a regular or guest session bitter for about £3.40 - £3.80 a pint.

      2. Warm Braw

        Re: Interesting

        According to the Bank of England, a 12-sided 3d coin at the time of its introduction (1937) would be worth the equivalent of around 77p today; the same coin in 1971 would be worth around 16p in today's money.

  19. akira9

    Going to be murder for the coin op, amusement, and vending trade this.

    1. Duffy Moon

      Oh don't you worry, they'll pass the costs onto us.

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Expect the charity shops to be full of home sorting/counting money boxes. It will be interesting to see what my fiendishly mechanical coin sorter does with the new coin.

  21. PhoenixRevealed

    April 1st again huh? Twigged to it when I got to the iSIS part... nobody would name anything that in this day and age.

  22. Haku

    Ah shit.

    My coin sorting/counting machine is probably going to think some of the new £1 coins are 10p's because it sorts them by their diameter, smallest first so a £1 that doesn't fit in the gap will then slide along and fall through the 10p gap, screwing up the counting result.

    £1 = 22.5mm diameter

    10p = 24.5mm diameter

    New £1 coin = 22.5mm to 24.5mm diameter

    Time to drop the machine back on eBay before everyone gets wise...

  23. ad47uk

    don't like the new coin

    i don't like this new coin, it looks too much like Euro coins, just like the £2 one. whihc I never see much these days.

    Saying all of that I still prefer the good old pound note.

    Anyway I thought cash was going out and we was entering a cashless society, so another lie then? Governments they are all the same,

    1. Charlie Clark Silver badge
      Headmaster

      Re: don't like the new coin

      Saying all of that I still prefer the good old pound note.

      This was withdrawn because it was circulating so much that it had to be replaced too often. This is why coins are used for smaller denominations. I always like the reference to gravity on it (pace "The Belly of an Architect").

      Of course, in order to achieve the apparent aim of double-digit inflation, it's only a matter of time before cash is replaced by some form of digital currency which, like air miles, can be devalued at whim.

      1. ad47uk

        Re: don't like the new coin

        i know why the pound note was withdrawn, I am surprised that the 5 pound note is still here for the very same reason, but then it will soon by made from plastic not paper.

        Be a few years before cash is replaced, by that time I doubt I will be worrying about it, for the last 40 years or more we have been told that cash will vanish and yet it is still here.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Facepalm

      Re: don't like the new coin

      You do know this is based off an old English coin?!

      1. ad47uk

        Re: don't like the new coin

        Yes, so what?

    3. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

      Re: cashless society

      The cashless society will be delivered shortly after the paperless office, and that's due shortly after the first fusion power plant goes on line and THAT is due shortly after the FAA gives it;s flight approval for LOHAN (Or hell freezes over, which ever comes first)

  24. plrndl

    Shame it's only worth 3d. There used to be 80 of these to the pound. Thank you for the inflation, chancellors of all parties.

  25. martinusher Silver badge

    Threepenny Bit?

    Looks like an updated version of the newer (post silver content) threepenny bit. Probably has about as much purchasing power now as the threepenny bit had back then.

    1. Jan 0 Silver badge

      Re: Threepenny Bit?

      >purchasing power

      Back in the late '50s and early 60s a threepenny bit would always buy you a Mars bar. However, you could track inflation by weighing the Mars bar!

      I have no idea how much a Mars bar costs nowadays, because I've developed a liking for chocolate.

      1. Charles 9

        Re: Threepenny Bit?

        In America, the standard-bearer for many years was a Hershey bar for a nickel. IIRC inflation finally shrank the bar out of existence in the 1970's.

      2. Charles 9

        Re: Threepenny Bit?

        BTW I don't think they're called Mars bars anymore but Snickers Almond bars.

        1. Charles 9

          Re: Threepenny Bit?

          Thumbing it down doesn't make it less true.

          http://www.snickers.com/Resources/images/share/almond.jpg

          Been this way since 2000.

  26. RobThBay

    2 metal coins have been around for a while

    The Canadian Mint has been producing $2 bi-metal coins for a few years now.

    http://www.mint.ca/store/mint/about-the-mint/new-1-and-2-6800002#.Vv_be3ofiAo

    1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

      Re: 2 metal coins have been around for a while

      As has the UK with the £2 coin since 1998.

      Edge lettering was introduced in 1983 on the £1 coin.

      Bi-Metal coins go back to Roman times

  27. sanwin
    FAIL

    It is no longer April 1st - shouldn't this article have been removed by now?

  28. sanwin

    Huh?

    Why is this article still on the site - April 1st is long gone.

    1. Brenda McViking
      FAIL

      Re: Huh?

      Because it was never an April fool...

      Royal mint website

      1. ad47uk

        Re: Huh?

        this new coin was known about since at least last year.,

    2. Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

      Re: Huh?

      Oh dear, oh dear.

      1. Peter Simpson 1
        Happy

        Re: Huh?

        You know when you throw an unbaited hook in, just to practice your cast...and you pull something out?

  29. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    Really looking forward to the time when we decide to return to having 240 pence in the pound and bring back the litter of non-sensical coins that went with it.

    Let this dodecaquid be only the beginning!

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