Pound coin replaced

[poundcoin]

Seems that I will become worthless in the Autumn .
My wife's been saying that for years

http://uk.businessinsider.com/pound-coi ... 017-2017-1

[bungeejumper]

Hmmm, six and a half months from first introduction to switching off the life support does seem a bit quick. And kind of tough on any foreigners who've kept a few quid back from their last holidays, the same way that I keep a stash of euros. In practice, I'd be surprised if there aren't any other avenues for swapping them after the deadline.

Sound move, though, if you ask me. The new design means that you can now use a spanner to get the coin out of a Yorkshireman's fist.

Now, repeat after me: "This does not mean, of course, that the pound in your pocket has been devalued..."

BJ

[poundcoin]

<sigh> You used to be so well rounded. Now you're just so...well.... edgy

[AleisterCrowley]

I'm intrigued by the new Top Secret security feature - which may or may not exist!

[sg31]

Sound move, though, if you ask me. The new design means that you can now use a spanner to get the coin out of a Yorkshireman's fist.

BJ

Speaking as a Yorkshireman, it will take a lot more than that.

[poundcoin]

I was searching for a pun based on the shape of a dodecahedron .
No luck , it just dozen shape up .

[UncleEbenezer]

Seems that I will become worthless in the Autumn .
My wife's been saying that for years

Tell her you're becoming a collectors' item (and see if she auctions you on ebay).

[jfgw]

Since the final demise of the thruppenny bit as legal currency at the end of August 1971, all UK coins have had constant diameters. Round coins, obviously, have constant diameters but the seven-sided 50p and 20p coins have too. No matter where you measure them, the diameter is the same. If you roll one along a desk under a ruler, the ruler runs smoothly without bobbing up and down. This constant diameter enables such a coin to work in vending machines and other coin-handling machines without unnecessary problems. A coin with this property can be designed with any odd number of sides but a coin with an even number of sides can never have this property.

So by what logic was a twelve-sided shape chosen for the new £1 coin?

Julian F. G. W.

[DiamondEcho]

Hmmm, six and a half months from first introduction to switching off the life support does seem a bit quick. And kind of tough on any foreigners who've kept a few quid back from their last holidays, the same way that I keep a stash of euros. In practice, I'd be surprised if there aren't any other avenues for swapping them after the deadline. BJ

Useful but annoying to read that, as I have 8 of them and my wife some more. Hopefully we'll have a way to use them before they expire worthless. I appreciate that they want to encourage the old coins out of circulation, but it seems like a very blunt way of going about it.

[swill453]

Since the final demise of the thruppenny bit as legal currency at the end of August 1971, all UK coins have had constant diameters. Round coins, obviously, have constant diameters but the seven-sided 50p and 20p coins have too. No matter where you measure them, the diameter is the same. If you roll one along a desk under a ruler, the ruler runs smoothly without bobbing up and down. This constant diameter enables such a coin to work in vending machines and other coin-handling machines without unnecessary problems. A coin with this property can be designed with any odd number of sides but a coin with an even number of sides can never have this property.

So by what logic was a twelve-sided shape chosen for the new £1 coin?

The response to the consultation is here https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/413929/PU1775_cover___prelims__FINAL_.pdf including the following:

"3.6 The government acknowledges the concerns over the performance of a coin with a non-constant diameter through the automatic vending process. Testing conducted by The Royal Mint, in partnership with a number of respondents, confirmed that these reservations were well-grounded for a 12-sided coin with flat sides and sharp corners. However, the introduction of rounded edges (‘radial chords’) to the design led to a significant improvement in its rolling behaviour, to a level consistent with that required by existing equipment."

Scott.

[Lootman]

Useful but annoying to read that, as I have 8 of them and my wife some more. Hopefully we'll have a way to use them before they expire worthless. I appreciate that they want to encourage the old coins out of circulation, but it seems like a very blunt way of going about it.

I think it's outrageous. It's fascinating how the UK government thinks it can get away with such things. Compare this with the situation in America where the US Mint has wanted to replace dollar bills for decades, a dollar being worth less than a pound and we abolished the pound note a long time ago.

It hasn't happened in the US because the people and voters love their dollar bills and kick up a fuss whenever the idea is mooted. In fact dollar coins are circulated and people just refuse to use them or accept them as change or in banks.

So why is our government so oblivious to public outrage?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eli-lehre ... 66998.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/won ... 0210288423

[swill453]

So why is our government so oblivious to public outrage?

Who's outraged about the new pound coin? Seems a fairly well thought out idea, and an attractive coin.

The short dual-running time period is meant to reduce costs for business who have to handle both.

Scott.

[Lootman]

So why is our government so oblivious to public outrage?

Who's outraged about the new pound coin? Seems a fairly well thought out idea, and an attractive coin.

The short dual-running time period is meant to reduce costs for business who have to handle both.

You may be correct, but why couldn't the government at least allow for a longer period when, say, banks will continue to accept and exchange the old coins even if retail businesses do not have to?

I still think there is a stunning contrast between how the UK and US government handle things like this. In the US, the people have to be convinced to accept a dollar coin. In the UK, the government just autocratically imposes the change.

[swill453]

You may be correct, but why couldn't the government at least allow for a longer period when, say, banks will continue to accept and exchange the old coins even if retail businesses do not have to?

They have. Banks will still accept them as deposits into bank accounts after 15 October.

I still think there is a stunning contrast between how the UK and US government handle things like this. In the US, the people have to be convinced to accept a dollar coin. In the UK, the government just autocratically imposes the change.

I think the change will be positively welcomed by those businesses suffering due to the counterfeiting of the existing coin. Over 3% of those in circulation, apparently.

Scott.

[swill453]

I'm intrigued by the new Top Secret security feature - which may or may not exist!

This is the most detailed information I've found about it http://www.lbma.org.uk/assets/events/AR%202015/S5Cont_1_Janczewski.pdf (page 10)

It's not something buried within the coin, it seems to be particles of "something" distributed in the outer nickel plating. When a light is reflected off it and processed in a signal processor, the test for the genuine coin is (apparently) 100% reliable.

(Note it's officially called the High Security Feature. It was originally called "Integrated Secure Identification System" (iSIS) but that was changed for some reason...)

Scott.

[DiamondEcho]

They have. Banks will still accept them as deposits into bank accounts after 15 October.Scott.

Is this so? I didn't see it stated anywhere. If so then I'm less annoyed. A lot of Brits abroad and tourists have a bag of these as I do, awaiting their next trip to the UK. It would be highly 'banana republic' if they were suddenly cancelled before the next visit and possible use, with no possible alternative.

[Biggles]

It's not something buried within the coin, it seems to be particles of "something" distributed in the outer nickel plating. When a light is reflected off it and processed in a signal processor, the test for the genuine coin is (apparently) 100% reliable.

It's probably bacon.

[malkymoo]

I've noticed quite a few shiny new pound coins in my change recently. Seems a bit odd for a coin which is about to be withdrawn.

Could it be that these have been issued in the expectation that they will be retained as souvenirs? I have no idea what a pound coin costs to make, but it has to be a lot less than a pound, a nice potential profit for the Bank of England there!

[dionaeamuscipula]

I've noticed quite a few shiny new pound coins in my change recently. Seems a bit odd for a coin which is about to be withdrawn.

Could it be that these have been issued in the expectation that they will be retained as souvenirs?

I don't think so. They will all have a 2015 date. No 2016 dated pound coins have been put into general circulation, although I have one*.

DM

*I made it myself, although it is genuine

[Slarti]

Hmmm, six and a half months from first introduction to switching off the life support does seem a bit quick.

Isn't that the same sort of time span from previous coins and notes being notified as going to be discontinued?

Banks will probably stop issuing them before the start of the 6.5 months.

Slarti