The new coin is a 12-sided marvel—a dodecagon, if you want to sound smart at parties. It’s bimetallic, with a gold-colored outer ring and a silver-colored inner core. The Royal Mint designed it to be “the most secure coin in the world.” Seriously, it has a hologram-like image that changes from a “£” symbol to a “1” when you tilt it. I tried it while waiting for my bus, and I swear I felt a little bit like a spy. “Is this coin real, or am I being tracked?” (Probably not, but let me have my moment.)
Why March 28, 2017, specifically? Because the old round pound was getting laughably easy to fake. Counterfeiters were using cheap alloys that looked passable under bad streetlights. So the Mint gave us this fancy polygon friend that’s supposed to be machine-readable, hard to replicate, and oddly satisfying to stack. You can build a little coin tower with them, by the way. I have no idea why this is satisfying, but try it. You’ll thank me later.
The Great Purge of 2017
When the new coin debuted, the old one didn’t just vanish—it got a six-month death sentence. For half a year, both coins were legal tender, meaning you could still pay with the old ones while the new ones slowly took over. Then, on October 15, 2017, they pulled the plug. If you had a round pound after that date? Tough luck. You had to take it to a bank and basically beg them to swap it for a shiny new dodecagon. I found five old ones in a coat pocket in 2019. I still think about those lost pounds sometimes. They’re probably in the sunken city of Atlantis now, funding mermaid vending machines.
Everything you need to know about the new £1 coin - BBC Newsround
The public reaction was… mixed, to say the least. Some people loved the new coin’s heft and security features. Others complained that it was too thick for their wallets, or that the corners pinched their fingers. I heard one guy at the pub say, “It’s like carrying a tiny stop sign around.” Fair point, sir. Fair point. But honestly, the best part was the drama surrounding the design. The coin features a rose, a leek, a thistle, and a shamrock—representing England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. It’s like a botanical United Nations in your pocket. Londoners mostly ignored it, but my Welsh friend got very emotional about the leek being “so prominently shown.” National pride, you guys. It’s weird and wonderful.
