£1 mis-strikes make headline news

The 12 sided £1 coin has made front page news time and again from members of the public spotting mis-struck £1 coins in their change.

However, it’s important to be aware that these headlines vastly overstate the scale of the problem.

1.5 billion £1 coins were struck – that’s 30 coins a second – for the new £1 release in March 2017, so it is inevitable that some variances have occurred during the striking process, affecting a small number of coins.

But remember, mis-strikes and variances are not the same as genuine errors.

Here are some of the mis-strikes that have been reported so far:

One coin found in Birmingham by Sarah O’Donoghue was thought to have melted in the middle causing the Bi-Metallic part of the coin to bleed into one another. However, this isn’t actually the case and is in fact likely to be because of a ‘bad’ or misaligned blank being used leading to this particular mis-strike.

This particular mis-struck £1 coin, and a few others that have been found recently, are undoubtedly numismatic curiosities. It is certainly possible that these coins will fetch a little more than face value in the near future by interested collectors. However, the minting process is never completely exempt from human error, so it is worth checking your change carefully.

“It is very unlikely that there is a serious problem with the new £1 coins. With the large amount of coins that were struck ready for the launch in 2017, it is inevitable that there will be some variances among a small number of the £1 coins. With the coins causing excitement in the press and more people than ever checking their change, these mis-strikes are cropping up more than usual.” – Ian Glen (Change Checker Managing Director)

The ‘polo’ pound

There have also been reports of new £1’s missing the middle section of the coin BUT collectors should beware.

As a word of warning to those wanting to get hold of one of these coins, don’t be fooled into spending more than you need to.

It is relatively easy to prize the two parts of metal apart by freezing the coin and using a chisel to knock the middle section out.

Ultimately these mis-strikes are unlikely to make anyone rich, but they are undoubtedly very interesting and would make an exciting addition to any coin collection. 

Find out about all the the differences that have been spotted in the 12 sided £1 here.

As I mentioned earlier, mis-strikes are not the same as genuine errors. BUT there are some errors to be aware of, such as the dual dated £1. Click here to find out more.

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– Find and identify the coins in their pocket
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