Time for CHANGE

WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF THE NEW 12-SIDED ONE POUND COIN WE DISCOVER WHICH CAR PARKS ARE ACTUALLY GEARED UP TO ACCEPT IT

DRIVERS have been warned that several car parks in the city will not accept the new £1 coin until later this year. Coventry City Council has confirmed that all its pay and display car park machines in the city will not be converted to accept the new £1 coins until the end of April. The same problem is faced by motorists using the machines next to onstreet parking bays. However, the city’s “pay on foot” car parks already accept the new £1 coin. The new 12-sided £1 coin became legal tender on Tuesday. The Royal Mint has produced around 1.5 billion of the coins and they will gradually be released into circulation in the coming months.

It was designed by Walsall schoolboy David Pearce, who won the competition launched by the Treasury to give the round pound a fresh look.

The new coin, the first new £1 coin to be introduced in more than 30 years, has a range of security features making it harder to forge.

But for those of you who still have purses and wallets full of the old-style coin, don’t panic.

You will be able to use it until October 15 when it ceases to be legal tender.

It was reported earlier in the week that new coin has already been placed for sale online by sellers asking several times its face value.

New £1 coins have been placed for sale on eBay, with some sellers wanting £10-plus and others asking three-figure sums for particular coins.

It has also been predicted that the the new coin could also prompt an upswing of fundraising drives by charities as people look to dispose of their old round coins.