Defiance in UK over new pound coin as deadline looms
LONDON: Britain’s old one-pound coin is being phased out completely on Sunday but businesses complain they have been given too little time to switch to the new one and many are planning to defy the deadline.
Around 1.2 billion old round coins have been withdrawn from circulation but about 500 million are remaining with less than a week to go.
“The changeover period has been fairly short,” said Mike Cherry, National Chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses.
“It would help if small firms knew they were allowed a short transition period to collect the old coins if they wish to, and are willing to bank them.”
Poundland, a chain of shops where almost all items cost 1, extended the period during which its customers would still be able to pay with the old coin until Oct31.
The country’s main banks, Barclays, Natwest, Lloyds and Santander and the Post Office have also announced that they will continue to accept the round coin after Oct 15.
The Royal Mint, the official agency that makes the British currency, created the new coin in an attempt to combat fraud, with 3% of the old coins – or 45 million – deemed to be counterfeit.
The outgoing round coin, of which two billion were minted, first appeared in 1983 in an attempt to cut costs by replacing the onepound note.
The new coin, of which 1.5 billion copies have been made, is “the safest in the world,” said Kevin Clancy, director of the Royal Mint Museum.
Security features on the new coin include 12 sides, a bi-metallic composition, a holograph and tiny lettering called “microtext” around part of the design.
Two different coloured metal alloys, based on nickel and copper, also make it easier to distinguish between fakes and genuine coins.
The coin will also have a new design on its “tail” side, created by 15-year-old David Pearce, who won a competition organised by the Treasury. — AFP