New quid on the block
BIRMINGHAM was quids in this week – as one of the few cities to launch the new £1 coin.
The 12-sided coin became legal tender on Tuesday but on launch day it was available at only two places in Birmingham – Lloyds Bank in New Street and the Post Office in Pinfold Street.
The managed to get hold of some of the coins and checked to see how easy it was to use.
Obviously all shops will accept it, but how about machines?
We put the coin in several onstreet parking meters in the city centre – at the ones in Edmund Street, Colmore Row and Margaret Street, all the new coins were accepted.
Next stop was a car park – the multi-storey at Snow Hill. Again, the coin was accepted.
But we ran out of luck when we tried vending machines in the Bullring – none of them accepted the coin. It was spat back out immediately.
The Royal Mint has produced around 1.5 billion of the coins and they will gradually be released into circulation in the coming months.
The tails side of the coin was designed by Walsall schoolboy David Pearce, who won the competition launched by the Treasury to give the pound a fresh look.
The old coin and the new coin will co-exist together for a period of around six months, until the round pound ceases to be legal tender on October 15.