World Coins

What you need to know about the UK's new pound coin

A public competition that began last September yielded this latest £1 coin reverse design.

Image courtesy of Royal Mint

1. Ditching the round pound

Yesterday Coin World reported that a reverse design for the Royal Mint's new £1 coin had been selected. A lot of readers might have said to themselves, "What new pound coin?"

If you're one of those readers, here's what you need to know:

  • Currently, the £1 coin is a small, round coin.
  • As many as 3 percent of those round £1 coins (about 45 million) are fake, according to a survey by the Royal Mint.
  • The Royal Mint announced last March that a larger, ringed bimetallic, 12-sided pound coin will be put into circulation to combat the counterfeiting trend.
  • The new coin will debut in 2017. 
  • The reverse design of the new coin was determined via a public competition.
  • On Wednesday, it was announced that the winning submission (pictured above) was designed by 15-year-old student David Pearce. 
Check back with Coin World for further coverage.
 
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4. Precious metals pricing

Kitco.com listed the following prices per ounce at 11:50 a.m. ET Thursday:

5. Yesterday's most-read post

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6. Being social

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