Coins already up for sale

THE new £1 coin has been put on sale online by sellers asking several times its face value.

Bags stuffed with the new coins have been delivered to banks up and down the country.

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.

The new £1 coin could also prompt an upswing of fundraising drives by charities as people look to dispose of their old round pounds.

The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) said in a blog on its website that there are likely to be “fundraising opportunities for charities both around the launch of the new coin and across the transition period”.

The website says: “Some of the most significant fundraising opportunities are likely to be after the launch and over the summer, as members of the public become aware of the withdrawal of the old coins and start to think about how to get value from them.”

The Royal Mint in Llantrisant has been making millions of the new £1 coins per day in the run-up to the launch.

The new coin has been described as the most secure in the world and boasts hi-tech features, including a hologram.

They have a gold-coloured outer ring and a silver-coloured inner ring and are based on the design of the old 12-sided threepenny bit, which went out of circulation in 1971.