The Government and Royal Mint are supporting retailers to prepare as the 30-year-old round pound coin is brought out of circulation and replaced with a new 12-sided version. The target week for the introduction of the new coin is the last week of March 2017.
The new pound coin will be the most secure of its kind in the world. This is to combat counterfeiters. There are around 45 million counterfeit £1 coins currently in circulation, generating significant cost to industry and taxpayers.