From 2017, we will be reverting to a twelve sided coin in our shrapnel and although in my opinion it will still only be worth thruppence pre decimalisation (Feb 1971) , it will bear the title of a Pound Con Coin. (source)
I did a post on this a couple of years ago (here) and stand by my comments then about it playing havoc with
Coin sorters
Slot machines
Vending machines
Launderettes
Car Park meters
to name just a few.
Our laundry here takes pound coins, but the one across the way takes 50p pieces. Both are £3 a wash and 20 minutes drying time for £1. For us, a week’s wash is usually a fiver.
The machine slots are those that you load and push in, so perhaps it will be a simple slider replacement. Or it could be that a token system will be introduced instead so that the cost of a wash and dry doesn’t go up to multiples of £2 coins and the marina doesn’t face the expense of modification to its machines.
Some of the supermarkets have scrapped their pound a trolley and tokens for the job ceased to be available a few years ago. I got caught with a Euro in my change and that fits the slot nicely, so it’s kept in the car and referred to as ‘our magic pound’.
The new Pound Coin to be introduced in 2017
Could this already be a forgery as it is dated 2014?!
Eventually though I can see our coinage dropped completely from circulation and our smallest denomination will be a five pound note.
It is rumoured they want us to be a cashless society, totally reliant on plastic cards (or whatever else they come up with) for payments, and what better way to accomplish this than taking away ‘change’.
Yep, I see the writing on the wall for our pennies, whatever age they come under.
Some would say that is progress! We have already lost our 1 & 2 cent coins, so paying for goods here always involves rounding up or down to the nearest “5” at the checkout! 🙂
They do that in NZ too. Being old school in till work, I’d hate to balance at the end of the day. How can you be ‘right to a penny’ when it is no longer currency?
Because the check out machines in most stores here do not currently round up/down, then I cannot see how they can possibly balance. Presumably the rounding is pretty much a 50/50 with up/down, so the result at end of a business day should be close! I cannot imagine teaching an Accounting program where “should be close” is OK!!!!! 🙂
But they do apparently!
Wow! I have worked with numerous people in the finance business and if 2+2 does not = 4, they get really uptight and start an analysis of the whole process…. and don’t stop until they find the error! 🙂
Yep, that’s how I used to be, balance to the penny or find out why. To be told you are close enough if you’re within a couple of pounds either way is totally unacceptable to me.
By way of a different perspective. If you put a value on your life/per hour, then how much of your time are you prepared to use up looking for small change? Just a thought! 🙂
Good point too. In my banking days though there was more than the till to balance at the end of the day, so differences had to be found. Most of the time it wasn’t all that time consuming, if divisible by 9 then we always looked for a reversal of figures somewhere.
Still, better, more better than all those dollar bills I have stuffed into my wallet. But you do not have our infamous “quarter” dollar. Ah, it’s a beauty now with all the state parks, and of course Saint George Washington on the face. Out worthless “copper” penny is still used, and is bigger than the ten-cent piece. Strange. I do have a two-dollar paper bill; you have two-dollar coins yet, correct? So here we are: 1, 5, 10, 25, 50 (hardly ever see John Kennedy), dollar (Eisenhower dollar rare) coins–and a few Susan B Anthony dollars. In the post office machines, in change we would receive a dollar coin, with a president figure-face, or Sacajawea. Hardly ever circulates.
Yes, we have 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 pence pieces, plus our one and two pounds coins. There are five pound coins and crowns too but they are only issued on special occasions.
yes, they are definitely going for a cashless society, the better for them to track every penny and so they can just take it all whenever they want!
Oh bother! So by the time I visit the UK again, my few pound coins probably won’t work any more!
Here in SA they are making the smallest coin 10 cents – but you can’t buy anything with that!
There is going to be a 6 month transition period when both are in circulation, so if you are planning a visit in the next 18 months, you can spend, spend, spend! (sort of) 😀
haha Good to know 🙂
NZ smallest coin is the 10 cent.