FAKE POUND COIN!

[Guest Helen_I'm_a_Guest]

Can anyone please tell me if there is such a thing as a fake pound coin, and if so, what does it look like??? I had the humiliating experience this morning of being kicked off the bus and it cost me £7 to get a taxi home as I had no more money on me. The reason? The bus driver said the pound coin that I had handed jhim was fake! I nearly died of embarrassment as he practically accused me of doing this on purpose. I argued with him for about 5 minutes and said that there was no such thing as a fake pound coin only fake paper money but he was adamant my coin was fake. I fumed all the way home and already had my letter of complaint written out in my head to his bosses but when I compared the coin with my£1 coin holiday collection ( I put a £1 coin in a box each day toward my hols next year hopefully! ) I had to admit on close inspection there were some discrepencies. Instead of the edge being smoothe with that bit of writing, my 'bad' coin had horizontal lines all the way around, quite deep lines and the whole of the coin itself was very dirty, black in parts, i thought it was just with age, an old coin. Yet in every respect it had the look and appearance of a £1 coin. Am I right or is the bus driver right? Is there such a thing as a fake pound coin. Thanks! my email is helenharp80@hotmail.com

[Chris Perkins 228]

Emailed you Helen. It is an escalating problem.

Chris

www.predecimal.com

[Sylvester 15]

The fake £1 coins are now more common than the 1988 £1 coins...i once had about three of them at the same time...one went to a train guard, one to a vending machine and the other one to a shop. The problem is there are so many of them out there, most of em look cast and probably are lead...with a brass paint added afterwards, weightwise they are not too far off, some vending machines are picky about taking them but sometimes this is the only way to get shut of them, usually takes them by the fourth attempt.

Common indications of a fake are a waxy surface, a dull lead like colour showing through, naff shallow edge lettering (often poorly executed), fairly low relief (lower than normal) and quite often the reverse/edge lettering is wrong for that particular type of year.

Many of the forgeries i've encountered are of the Irish Cross variety, and the Welsh Dragon (both of which are often inscribed 'Decus Et Tutamen' despite the fact that the latter should be 'Pleidol Wyf I'm Gwlad' *spelling?*). I think other reverses have been copied too, possibly the three lions and the Scottish lion. I'd also bet money on the Royal Arms reverse having being faked also.

Not sure about the earlier 'plant/tree' stuff, and i've seen no fake '88s yet.

Sylvester.

[Guest Helen]

Thanks for the info! I didn't realise it was such a problem. I'm going off to check that little box I told you about ( my hols fund consisting of £1 coins! ). Cheers, Helen.

[Sylvester 15]

Talking of fake £1 coins, i've just found one that i got in change today, how do i know it's fake?

Well it's dated 1997 and it's got the Irish Celtic Cross reverse, but the edge lettering is right this time even if the date/reverse match is not, surely 1997 should be the English three lions?

Sylvester.

[Emperor Oli 0]

I know these are different "forgeries" but in the Daily Mail a while ago, they had a bit on these coins from an African country. They were made out of the same alloy as pound coins, had their country's monarch on the obverse, felt like pound coins and looked, at-a-glance, like real pound coins. The problem must have been ironed out as I didn't see any follow-up on it...

[Sylvester 15]

Probably now account for over half of the pound coins i circulation, still it must save the govt some money as they won't have to mint as many now...

Sylvester.

[william 0]

There are some new £1 coins coming out now! I wonder who will be the first to fake those!

[Sylvester 15]

There are some new £1 coins coming out now!

Also please be aware of the increasing number of £2 coin forgeries, it appears they are on the rise. I got one myself the other day.

[Chris Perkins 228]

Oh really, was it any good?

How did the forgers handle the bi metal element?

Thanks for the pics William, they are growing on me you know. I quite like the large 'rim beading' style.

[Sylvester 15]

Oh really, was it any good?

How did the forgers handle the bi metal element?

Thanks for the pics William, they are growing on me you know. I quite like the large 'rim beading' style.

Scarily well Chris, i notice it straight away because of the gold paint look rather than the brass look.

The edge lettering is superb, the coin looks totally real apart from the weak struck obverse lettering, and the gold paint look.

It was obvious to me, i knew what it was as she handed it over to me, but i was more interested in examining it thoroughly than refusing to accept it.

[Chris Perkins 228]

Still got it?

[Sylvester 15]

Still got it?

Yep! See here...

http://www.coinpeople.com/forums/album_per....php?user_id=36

It's well labelled! See what you think, the scan didn't highlight the gold paint look quite as much, but the obverse lettering, particularly around the DEI bit...

[Chris Perkins 228]

That's not bad is it!

[Sylvester 15]

That's not bad is it!

You should see the edge lettering! Fantastically crafted.

[william 0]

Not bad at all! I wish i could see a scan of the edge though

[Sylvester 15]

Not bad at all! I wish i could see a scan of the edge though

i could try for nothing, but that's what it might be for... NOTHING!

[william 0]

Be brave!

[Sylvester 15]

Be brave!

HAVE ANOTHER LOOK AT THE LINK ABOVE!

[Chris Perkins 228]

Wonderful edge lettering.

William: Overt your eyes when you see Sylvesters pictures of Miss Moore!

[Emperor Oli 0]

I can't fathom why people make counterfeit coins instead of note. I mean, one would have to make 20 £1 coins to equal that of a £20 note (obviously) and it seems less profitable to make the coins. Even though they are easier (I think) to slip into general circulation, the can get spotted far more easily (by skilled eyes ) than the note. I open to the floor.....

[Chris Perkins 228]

I think it's probably because notes are harder to fake and people pay more attention to them, than they do to coins. Thus coins get passed off very easily, and probably just cost pennies to make.

The £2 coin looked quite sophisticated though, I expect the effort that went into that cost more than pennies.

[Sylvester 15]

The £2 coin looked quite sophisticated though, I expect the effort that went into that cost more than pennies.

You know, i'm not actually sure, what i thought they had done was to mint the coin in cupro-nickel and to paint the outer part with gold paint.

But looking at it, they might have gone the whole hog and actually produced a true bimetallic coin.

I think they must have used some blank dies! Probably already had the edge lettering and milling?

Although the D in shoulders looks poorly executed when compared to the real thing, but the rest are good!

[Sylvester 15]

I think they must have used some blank dies! Probably already had the edge lettering and milling?

Indeed Rendal Ingram sells them! You can buy blanks that are both parts and with the edge lettering/milling already done!

But why the gold paint? If they hadn't done that then it might have passed as the real thing? (unless they were trying to hide something)

[william 0]

Thanks for the pic Sylvester!