Thanks to Parcel Holders for allowing us to publish their New Pound Coin Story
Note the date: It’s 28 March 2017 – that’s when the new pound coin officially landed, and at the risk of worrying you, are you ready?
This is the first time a new £1 coin has been introduced in over 30 years. The new 12-sided £1 will be ‘the most secure coin in the world’. It boasts several new security features to prevent counterfeits, which cost taxpayers and businesses millions every year.
Businesses of all sizes are being encouraged to visit their website here ‘to find out how to get ready for the change, and to download helpful materials to help educate and train staff.’
You’ve probably done all of this by now but – belt and braces – here’s the official ‘to do’ list for vending operators:
- Check whether your equipment handles the new pound coin;
- Make the necessary changes to coin handling equipment;
- Train staff on the features of the new pound coin; and…
- Make arrangements with your bank or cash in transit provider to return the current £1 coin and new £1 coin in separate packaging.
And last but not least, if you envisage delivering – or receiving – more parcels than usual during the changeover, you’d be better off with Parcel Holders / Parcel Suppliers. Click here to contact them.
So, that’s the business bit done. And here’s your reward for reading – it’s a whole list of factoids with which to impress the kids / the neighbours / anyone who’ll listen etc. etc….
Did you know?
- The Royal Mint has produced over 2.2 billion round pound coins since 1983 – that’s the same weight as nearly 6,000 elephants. (Do we still have 6,000 elephants? 🙁 )
- 25 different designs have appeared on the current pound coin, from dragons to trees
- The Royal Mint will make over 1.5 billion of the new £1 coins
- If you put these coins side by side, there would be enough to go from the UK to New Zealand and back
- The new £1 coin is based on the design of the old 12-sided threepenny bit, which went out of circulation in 1971
- It’s being made at the Royal Mint in Llantrisant, Wales, at a rate of up to 2,000 per minute…
- This equates to more than 30 coins per second; nearly 3 million new £1 coins every day.
- Some of the round £1 coins returned by the public will be recycled to make the new £1 coins. Nice.
- The oldest British coins in the Royal Mint’s collection date back over 2,000 years. Rumours that they were found in an old Sankey machine in a garage in Guildford – turned out to be untrue.
- Some coins produced by the Royal Mint are tested every year to ensure they meet the correct specifications at the ‘Trial of the Pyx’, a judicial ceremony which dates back to the twelfth century
- 2017 will be the first time the new £1 coin goes to the trial. Oo-er…
- The Chancellor is the UK’s official “Master of the Mint” – a title previously held by Isaac Newton and a Polar Bear called Fox. (That last bit was a lie, natch).
Hope that clears things up!
