I’m not sure whether I’m just particularly unlucky when it comes to being passed counterfeit pound coins, or whether I just happen to notice them more often. Either way, the amount of dodgy one pound coins in circulation must be enormous (1% I’m told).
Anyway, how do you spot them? Well here’s a few good examples of bent coins. It’s easier than you might think, as fortunately counterfeiters aren’t the sharpest tools…
Example #1:
(click on image for larger version)
As far as crooked £1’s go, this is pretty good and will easily pass as real from a ‘quick glance’. The front and back have been stamped centrally and clearly and the colour is good.
It’s much harder to achieve a readable edge inscription “DECUS ET TUTAMEN” though and it’s this that gives this coin away as being fake when inspected more closely. The inscription is half missing, not centred correctly and the coin is only 80% milled.
The year on the front of this coin is 1996. The reverse for this year should be a Celtic cross. Oops! Those not so clever fakers have stamped a Rampant Lion from 1994’s pound coin on the back.
Example #2:
In contrast to the previous example, it’s the colour on this coin that tips you off to it being a fake. I’d imagine that when this coin was freshly counterfeited, it was a pretty good copy. A few years in circulation and the signs of wear give it away now though. But, the fakers aren’t really going to give a toss if it doesn’t stand the test of time, are they.
As you can see from the picture, the silver of the metal below is blatantly showing. You can see on the reverse where I’ve scratched off the ‘gold top coat’ with my fingernail! When compared against a real pound coin, this fake is also very slightly too large and misshapen. Doh! You’d have trouble passing this bad boy through a vending machine then.
Example #3:
The texture of the front of this coin just looks wrong. It has a ’sprayed’ look, which probably doesn’t come across that well in the picture. Both front and back are centrally stamped, but the edge inscription is of very poor quality and is only partially milled. The reverse Celtic cross isn’t as clear as it should be and is obviously lacking in any detail. When compared to a genuine £1 coin, it’s again very slightly too big.
Having said that, it’s another fairly good copy and could easily be passed off.
Quite remarkedly, the year, edge inscription and reverse picture again all tie up. It’s unbelievably common for them to not match, as you’ll see…
Example #4:
The face on this fake isn’t quite centrally stamped. The edge is 90% milled. The quality of the lettering on the face stamp isn’t marvellous.
As you can see, the face is stamped 1992 and “DECUS ET TUTAMEN” is stamped around the edge. The reverse shows a thistle sprig in a coronet. Doh!! Those pesky fakers have got it wrong again. 1992 was an oak tree in a coronet!
Anyway, that’s enough dodgy pounds for now… more another time!
Part two and part three.
dear sir my friend have found a 1 pound coin which is plain both sides and with the words around the edge is this a fake or worth something please reply by email many thanks
Patricia,
Can you post images on the site for us to take a look?
dear sir
i have foud a one pound a one pound coin with a skull one on one side and under neaf the skull it says discovery of neanderthal skull in gibraltar 1848 but it says it was made in 2009 is it worth anything.
That sounds to be like a genuine 2009 Gibraltar coin.
They crop up in loose change regularly.
In my collection, I have Gibraltar, Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey one pound coins and I haven’t gone out of my way to deliberately collect them.
dear sir.
hi have a 2009 pound coin, but on the back where it says one pound it has one POUNI ive been told its a real pound? could you plz e-mail me back to let me no what you think thank.
Shaun,
Can you post images of the coin on this site, for those of us with a bit of a trained eye, to take a look?
I have (x2) 1983 one pound coins that I have examined very closely. One of the 2 coins has the DECUS ET TUTAMEN milling upside down (when the “head” side of the coin is up, the side inscription is upside down) – the other coin has the inscription on the side oriented to be read correctly when the head of the coin is upwards.
I have read closely, and compared your pictures on this site to the coins, and both coins (circulated) look genuine. The color of the metals are the same, a scratch test with a thumbnail doesn’t scrape any coloring off, a slight drop test on a hard surface makes them ring of the same alloys. Is this possibly a minting error that could make the coin worth more than the standard? (est American grading would render about a vf5 to a vf6 condition – circulated).
The way you describe them, they sound genuine.
The edge description is put onto the coins as the stamped coins fall from one machine to another. depending upon how they twist when falling will mean the inscription will either be the ‘right way up’ or ‘upside down’.
In theory this should be 50/50 just like when you flip a coin.
There is no known difference in value just because the inscription appears ‘upside down’
Hello Daniel, the orientation of the edge lettering on one pound coins is entirely random. The lettering is put onto the blanks first, then they are fed into the presses at random. By the law of averages there should be 50 per cent of each variety.
i have a pound that has no date on.
Can you post a picture of it?