£1 coins…How to spot a forgery

With 1 in every 36 £1 coins in circulation in the UK counterfeit, how can managers guide staff to spot forgeries?

Almost two million counterfeit £1 coins were returned to the Royal Mint in the last financial year. This was more than 23 times higher than the number seized six years earlier. Its an epidemic which is costing UK businesses lost profits, and compromising faith in the nuts and bolts of our currency.

Growing number
In a written parliamentary answer, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Justine Greening, explained that high-speed automated systems were used by banks and the Post Office to process deposits and prepare coins for reissue.

“These automated systems are capable of detecting and withdrawing a significant number of counterfeit coins,” she said. “All counterfeit coins detected from coin processing are sent to the Royal Mint for disposal.”

Spotting fakes
As soon as an accepted coin is found to be counterfeit, it is immediately rendered worthless and attempting to pass it on is an offence.

One way to identify a fake is to check the alignment of the coin. By holding it so the Queen’s head is upright and facing you – when you spin it round, the pattern on the reverse should also be upright. Fakes can often be at an angle. The Royal Mint’s online design portfolio can also be used to easily identify what is genuine and what is not.

Since they were introduced in 1983, the design on the reverse of £1 coins has changed every year.

The Royal Mint inspects a random sample of coins from across the country to establish the twice-yearly official forgery rate.

Clearly this is another potential cost saving area for businesses and staff are very much on the front-line. It is becoming harder to spot fakes but here are some pointers we in Expense Reduction Analysts’ Banking Team have come across:-

How to spot a fake £1 coin

• Indistinct lettering or wrong typeface on edge
• Queen’s head and pattern on reverse should both be upright when coin is turned over
• Design on reverse should correspond with official design for year of its issue