World’s most secure coin introduced

Britain’s new £1 coin, hailed as “the most secure in the world”, features a string of security features to make it harder to counterfeit

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Bimetallic: Made of two metals. Outer ring: Gold-coloured, nickel-brass
Inner ring: Silver-coloured, nickel-plated alloy

Microlettering
Very small lettering on lower inside rim on both sides of coin

Latent image
Hologram-like image changes from £ symbol to number 1 when seen from different angles

Milled edges: Grooves on alternate sides

12-sided: Distinctive shape instantly recognisable by sight and touch

Fifth coin portrait of Queen Elizabeth

Hidden high security feature
Integrated Secure Identification System (iSIS) embeds physical security layer in each coin that can be quickly detected when scanned by coin-counting or payment machines

Replaces existing £1 coin, of which one in 30 are thought to be fake

Diameter: 23.43mm
Larger than old £1 coin

Thickness: 2.8mm

Weight: 8.75g

Thinner and lighter than old coin

Old coin ceases to be legal tender on Oct 15, 2017

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Source and pictures: Royal Mint

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