12 FACTS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE POUND COIN BEFORE OCTOBER 15TH

Twelve facts about the new 12-sided pound coin – and what to do with the old round pounds

1. The new 12-sided £1 coin was introduced at the end of March 2017 to replace the old £1 coin. That was first introduced in 1983 when paper pound notes started to be withdrawn.
2. More than 1.5 billion of the new coins have been introduced – and more than a billion of the old coins are already taken out of circulation. But tens, maybe hundreds of millions of old coins are still around, in piggy banks, winter coat pockets, the place in your car where you keep change for the supermarket trolley – and yes, maybe even down the back of the sofa.
3. The new pound coins have many in-built security features, but you’ll need a powerful magnifying glass to see some of them.
4. About one-in-thirty of the old ‘round pounds’ are thought to be fake – which is why the new coins are coming in.
5. The old £1 coins cease to be legal tender at 11.59pm on 15 October 2017. That effectively means you can’t spend them after that date – and you can refuse them in any change you’re given by a shopkeeper, for example.
6. That does not mean the old coins will be instantly worthless – so do not believe any ‘countdown clocks’ that say they are. Most high street banks and building societies will continue to allow you to pay them into an account. The same is true if you have a Post Office account.
7. Don’t expect banks and building societies to just give you new coins over the counter to replace any old coins you want to hand in.
8. Even if you are paying old coins into an account, your bank or building society may limit how many you can deposit at a time. If you have a jar-load of old pound coins, you might just want to check with your bank before you carry them all the way there.
9. If you’re using the little coin plastic bags to pay in your old pounds, don’t mix old and new coins in the same bag. The new coins are lighter, so mixing them makes it more difficult for the bank teller to check how many are in each bag.
10. You can give your coins to a charity that’s ‘shaking a bucket’ somewhere. They will almost certainly take the cash they collect to their bank, so they shouldn’t have a problem getting value from your old pounds.
11. From 6^th October, Pudsey’s Round Pound Countdown will help BBC Children in Need. Click here to find out all the ways you can donate your old pounds to this charity.
12. You’ll never know it, but the old ‘round pounds’ you’re now trying to get rid of will actually wind up back in your pocket – because the Royal Mint is melting them down and using the metal to make new pound coins.

Information supplied by finacial expert Andrew Sawers