Last updated on September 7th, 2022 at 02:19 pm
The new £1 coin is coin is coming. It’s been dubbed as the “most secure coin in the world” by The Treasury – and with its 12-sided, distinctive shape, it does make it pretty difficult to fake. We’ve all been lumbered with a dodgy £1 coin at one time or another, so the introduction of a fancy new one is getting a good reception.
But it comes at a price for payphone businesses who are being warned they have to adapt their equipment in time for the coin’s arrival in 2017.
Failure to do so is basically breaking the law, so there’s not really any room for negotiation. All machines accepting cash, whether it’s in exchange for a rail ticket or a chocolate bar, will have to be updated.
There is going to be a six-month transitional period where businesses will be able to accept both the new and the old coins, but it will later be phased out leaving anyone who hasn’t complied breaking the law.
The Royal Mint has warned businesses they now need to begin training their staff and adapting their equipment in order to deal with the new coin.
Vending machines, payphones, car parking machines, fruit machines, supermarket trolleys, launderette washing machines, and even your lockers at the gym are going to have to be updated or even replaced to comply with the new coin, which could run up an expensive bill for businesses and councils.
In a statement, Adam Lawrence, Chief Executive of The Royal Mint, said: “We are hugely proud of the new 12-sided £1 coin, which has been designed using cutting edge technology at our South Wales site.
“We would encourage business owners to visit the website as soon as possible, to find out how the new £1 coin could affect their business and what steps they need to take to prepare for the launch of the coin in March 2017.”
There’s been the expected lashback of course, but for the majority of us the changeover next March will be a novelty soon forgotten. That is – unless you are a business owner or work in the vending industdry – then it’s a serious matter.
In case you weren’t aware, there are two broad types of coin-operated machine. Virtually all modern ones use electronic sensors to “validate” a coin with as many as a hundred different checks, including speed past the sensor, diameter and metal content. Depending on the machine, some coins may then be passed to a change hopper, which could struggle with the new pound. Otherwise the job is essentially just a software update, installed in person by an engineer much like the ones we have at PMC Telecom.
Why the new coin is more secure
- 12-sided – its distinctive shape means it stands out by sight and by touch
- Bimetallic – The outer ring is gold coloured (nickel-brass) and the inner ring is silver coloured (nickel-plated alloy).
- Latent image – it has an image like a hologram that changes from a ‘£’ symbol to the number ‘1’ when the coin is seen from different angles.
- Micro-lettering – around the rim on the heads side of the coin tiny lettering reads: ONE POUND. On the tails side you can find the year the coin was produced
- Milled edges – it has grooves on alternate sides.
- Hidden high security feature – an additional security feature is built into the coin to protect it from counterfeiting but details have not been revealed.
PMC Telecom has an Early Bird half price offer where it will cost your business very little to be compliant. We are offering an exclusive package where we will arrange to collect your payphone free of charge, a certified engineer will upgrade the hardware to accept the new £1 coin and ship the unit back to you free of charge (UK Mainland Only).
- Free collection
- Free delivery
- Certified engineers
- Hardware upgrade
- 12 month warranty on work carried out
