There’s a hidden feature on £1 coins you might never have spotted (stock image) (Image: Getty)
Our coins and banknotes are absolutely jam-packed with hidden details intended to make them as difficult as possible to counterfeit. Holograms, raised letters, and even the material they’re made out of – it all comes together to make creating convincing fake money very, very difficult indeed. And some of these security features are so intricate, you might not even be aware they’re there, despite seeing them every day.
One person posted a picture on Reddit highlighting a detail on the current version of the £1 coin, which was introduced in 2017. The 12-sided, or dodecagonal, coin replaced the original round coin first put into circulation in 1983, which itself replaced the £1 note, which was withdrawn in 1988.
Posting two close-up pictures of the edge of a £1 coin, the Reddit user said: “TIL (today I learned) pound coins have ‘one pound’ written along the edge in teeny tiny writing.”
The images revealed the coin has the words ‘ONE POUND’ in minuscule writing on the outer portion of the coin just before the raised edge. Other Reddit users were fascinated by the revelation.
One person explained: “This is part of what’s called the filigree, which is a decorative part of a coin to stop basically fraud. In the olden times when coins were minted, and were worth a monetary value in gold/silver, people used to chip off bits of the edge to make the coin seem legit, whilst still obtaining part of its value. Filigrees equally apply to buttons and rings in addition to coins.”
Another wrote: “I only noticed this recently on one of the new bee £1 coins. So many details, I love that there is such attention to detail for something that really doesn’t need anything but a number on it.”
Replying, someone else said: “It needs the features to stop people producing forgeries. The Royal Mint estimated that up to three per cent of the old £1 coins were forged – about £30,000,000 of stolen money in circulation.”
And another wrote: “There’s also the date on the other side in micro text, and in some of the 2016 coins there was an error where it says 2017 instead in the microtext.”
Someone else said: “I’ve never really accepted the new shape. You’d think after all these years I’d have grown accustomed. Guess it’s because I grew up with the round pound and the astonishment and excitement of finding one down the back of a sofa or at a pub really engrained the original shape into me.”
And another joked: “Never knew that. When they were first issued, I was too busy trying to get the chocolate inside.”
What other security features do 12-sided £1 coins have?
The Royal Mint, which manufactures all UK coins, explained the 12-sided £1 coin consists of a gold-coloured outer ring made from nickel and brass, and a silver-coloured inner ring made from a nickel-plated alloy. It features a hologram-like image at the bottom which shows a £ symbol, or a number 1, depending on the angle it is looked at from.
As well as the ‘ONE POUND’ lettering on the ‘heads’ side, it also features the year of production in the same section on the ‘tails’ side. The coin also features a secret security feature which the Royal Mint has not released details of, but has said makes it the “most secure coin in the world”.
The Royal Mint said: “The round £1 coin was replaced for the first time in over 30 years because of its vulnerability to sophisticated counterfeiters. Approximately one in 30 round £1 coins in circulation was a counterfeit.
“We introduced a new, highly secure coin on March 28, 2017 to reduce the costs of counterfeits to businesses and the taxpayer. Businesses across the UK upgraded their machines to accept the new £1 coin. Some waited until July 2017, when there were more new £1 coins in circulation than round £1 coins.
“The legal tender status of the round £1 coin was withdrawn at 23.59 on Sunday, October 15, 2017. From this date shops and businesses no longer accepted these coins, but they could still be taken to banks or donated.”