It’s time to spend £1 coins...or risk losing £1.1billion

BRITONS stand to lose up to £1.1billion when the new £1 coin comes in, according to research.

The 12-sided piece, below, will be launched on March 28, bringing to an end the round coin’s 34-year reign.

But a study found fewer than one in five of us knows when the old coin goes out of circulation.

And only 13 per cent realised they will have to spend their old £1 coins by October 15 – when they cease to be legal tender.

With the average person having 15 £1 coins in piggybanks, jars and draws, the research by Mastercard estimates that Britons could lose £1.1billion.

The finance company’s president Mark Barnett said: “We were shocked to discover just how few people are aware of when the current £1 goes out of circulation.”

The round coin is being replaced for the first time since its introduction in 1983 amid fears that it has become too vulnerable to counterfeiting. The Royal Mint believes one in every 30 £1 coins is a fake, while nearly 70 per cent of people say they have encountered a counterfeit coin in their lifetime. The new 12-sided bimetallic piece is said to be much harder to counterfeit, with the Mint claiming it will be the “most secure coin in the world”. The Government ministry, which is the only establishment permitted to strike British coins, will make £1.5billion in new £1 pieces ahead of the release on March 28. However officials say that the coin will take around a month to reach most bank branches and retailers. After the round £1 coin loses its legal tender status in October, shops will no longer accept it. But people will still be able to pay the old coins into their bank after the deadline.