The new 12-sided one pound coin today enters circulation in the UK – a coin The Royal Mint has described as the “most secure in the world”.

The Royal Mint decided to replace the former coin because of its vulnerability to sophisticated counterfeiters, with the 12-sided coin boasting an array of new security features.

There will be a six month bedding-in period, after which the old circular pound coin, which has been in circulation since 1983, will no longer be deemed legal tender.

There are thought to be 30 million fake round pound coins in circulation, making up 2.55 per cent of the total, according to The Royal Mint.

The new coin is made of two different metals, the outer ring is gold coloured (nickel-brass) and the inner ring is silver coloured (nickel-plated alloy). It also contains an image like a hologram that changes from a £ symbol to a 1 when the coin is viewed from different angles. In addition, a “high security feature” is built into the coin to protect it from counterfeiting.

In the run up to circulation day, thousands of businesses across the country have had to adapt in order to cater for the new coin. Only last weekend, Tesco announced it would unlock 100,000 of its supermarket trolleys after failing to convert them in time.

Gyms and leisure centres have also had to replace lockers to accommodate the new coin as well as vending machine suppliers, with other SMEs also feeling the financial burden of replacing or updating equipment to facilitate the change.

Some have questioned the need for a new coin at a time when cashless payment figures are continuing to surge. The rise of mobile technology and contactless payments had led to a payments revolution which shows no sign abating and has the potential to make cash obsolete.

A survey from Lloyds Bank last year found that only half of Brits thought that cash would still be in use in a decades’ time. Another more recent report, released in January 2017 by RBR, found that 471 billion cashless payments were made worldwide in 2015, up 52 per cent since 2011.

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