1992 £1 error with Flax reverse

[secret santa 2,385]

Whilst filing away some old £1 coins today, I found a 1992 £1 with the Irish Flax reverse. The correct reverse for 1992 is recorded as English Oak. Is this likely to be a forgery ?

[Paddy 1,879]

Yes - likely to be a forgery. Getting the wrong design for a date was common amongst the forgeries. A picture would confirm it.

 

[secret santa 2,385]

I'll post pics in the next few days - are there any giveaway signs ?

[Paddy 1,879]

They vary enormously. The wrong design for the date is often the biggest. Pics of the edge would be useful too as incorrect or blundered edge lettering is also common in the errors. Weight will usually be right. (If the forgers get that wrong the coin would fail any coin operated machine.) Colour is often odd and gets odder with age as it tarnishes differently from the real thing. Alignment may also be wrong - the genuine item is struck in one go so misaligned obverse and reverse would be almost impossible, but on the fakes, quite likely.

 

[Paddy 1,879]

This website might also help: http://thefakepoundcoindatabase.co.uk/FLAX.html

 

[Peckris 2 2,211]

Forgeries often look soft and a bit blurred. But a deliberate use of the "wrong" reverse design is the biggest factor.

[secret santa 2,385]

Pictures below:

[Paddy 1,879]

As well as the mismatched date/reverse, the portrait of the queen is unreasonably blurry and the rim looks too wide and uneven. How does the edge look?

 

[Peckris 2 2,211]

There were hundreds of 000s of £1 forgeries around before they changed the design. I found a few but didn't bother to keep them.

[secret santa 2,385]

I wonder if there's a market for them, tapping into the nostalgia/curiosity ?

[Paddy 1,879]

  On 12/22/2021 at 11:00 PM, secret santa said:

I wonder if there's a market for them, tapping into the nostalgia/curiosity ?

On my market stall, I have occasionally sold one or two to collectors of these things, but as yet the maximum they will give is.... £1!

 

[Peckris 2 2,211]

  On 12/22/2021 at 11:00 PM, secret santa said:

I wonder if there's a market for them, tapping into the nostalgia/curiosity ?

It would have to be a black market? Those things are illegal!