09/04/2009 - Company warning over fake £1 coins
A company that tests money collected from vending machines has said that far more fake £1 coins are in circulation than officially accounted for.
The Royal Mint reports that 2.5% - more than 30 million - are fakes, but Willings boss Andy Brown said that the test machines used by the Mint are not accurate enough. He said: "We carried out our own sample and withdrew £2,000 in pound coins from the bank and we found 3% to 4% were fakes. The machines they use only find 30% to 40% of the fakes.
"They are using high-volume machines that check a lot of coins. They don`t want to reject real coins, so they are potentially erring on the side of caution with their calculations." That potentially means that there is one fake £1 coin - 60 million - for every man, woman and child in the country.
Fakes can often be identified by the lettering around the edge, which may appear indistinct or in the wrong typeface. Also, the pattern on the reverse side should be upright, matching the orientation of the Queen's head.
Copyright © Press Association 2009
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