When you think of counterfeiting money, chances are you are thinking about bank notes and how forgers use machinery to print and attempt to replicate the money as close to the real deal as possible.
In fact safe to say when it comes to counterfeiting, you don’t really think about coins being counterfeited, do you? Well according to the UK’s Royal Mint, they estimate that about 3% of all £1 coins are forgeries, which is why they have recently announced a 12-sided £1 coin that is expected to make its way into circulation come 2017.
According to the Royal Mint, despite forgeries only at 3%, they state that the removal of these fake coins from circulation is a direct cost to banks and the economy, which is something they’re hoping to change with the new £1 coin, which is apparently a lot harder to forge.
In fact the new coin will be the first to integrate iSIS (Integrated Secure Identification System) which according to the Royal Mint, “incorporates three tiers of banknote-strength security and can be authenticated via high-speed automated detection at all points within the cash cycle”
The coin in question will feature a 12-sided bi-metallic design sporting two colors with the Queen’s effigy on the “heads” side of the coin as it has always been, while the design of the back will be opened to the public in a competition that will decide which design should make it onto the “tails” portion of the coin.
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