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The new 12 sided £1 coin has officially gone into production a year before it is due to be issued into circulation, with the UK’s Royal Mint producing the coins at a rate of 4,000 coins per minute and the aim of producing 1.4 billion of the new coins.

The UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, visited the Royal Mint site at Llantrisant in Wales to see the new coins being manufactured. He said

“I am delighted that the Royal Mint are producing the most secure circulating coin anywhere in the world. With groundbreaking technology, developed in Wales, the new coin will help secure our economy and get rid of counterfeits. In a year’s time, the new coin, which will incorporate emblems from all four of our home nations, will line millions of pockets and purses around the UK.”

When the coin is issued into circulation in March 2017 there will be a 6 month period whereby the new coin will circulate alongside the old £1 coin, during which time the old coins will be removed from circulation.

It is the first time in 30 years that the design of the £1 coin has changed. In recent years, the coin has been the target of coin counterfeiters, with a reported 3% of all one pound coins in circulation suspected to be a counterfeit.