The new 12-sided £1 coin will enter circulation on March 28, the Government has announced.

The old 'round pound', which was introduced more than 30 years ago, will be in circulation alongside the new coin until it ceases to be legal tender on October 15.

People are being urged to return the £1 coins before they lose their legal tender status. They can either spend them before October 15 or bank them.

Around £1.3 billion worth of coins are stored in savings jars across the country, and the current £1 coin accounts for nearly a third of these, the Government said.

Some of the round £1 coins returned by the public will be melted down and reused to make the new £1 coin, which was announced in the 2014 Budget.

The new £1 coin, which resembles the old threepenny bit, has been hailed as 'the most secure coin in the world'. It boasts several new security features, including a hologram.

Replacing £1 notes, £1 coins were first launched on April 21, 1983. The Royal Mint has produced more than 2.2 billion round pound coins since that time.

But there have been concerns about round pounds being vulnerable to sophisticated counterfeiters. Around one in every 30 £1 coins in people's change in recent years has been fake.

Announcing the date when the new coin will enter circulation, Chief Secretary to the Treasury David Gauke said: 'March 28 should be an important date in everybody's calendar this year - as we willhave a new quid on the block.

'This is a historic moment as it's the first time we've introduced a new £1 coin since 1983, and this one will be harder to counterfeit than ever before.

'Our message is clear: if you have a round one pound coin sitting at home or in your wallet, you need to spend it or return it to your bank before October 15.'

To read the complete article, see:
Days are numbered for the round pound with 12-sided coin to bereleased in March (http://metro.co.uk/2017/01/01/days-are-numbered-for-the-round-pound-with-12-sided-coin-to-be-released-in-march-6354828/)

David Pickup writes:

For more information on the retirement of the round pound coin, see:
http://www.thenewpoundcoin.com/#affect

The new 12-sided coin will be bimetallic, comprising an outer ring of gold-coloured nickel-brass and an inner of a silver-coloured, nickel-plated alloy, and will include a holograph-likeimage that changes from the pound symbol to the number one when viewed from certain angles. It will have tiny lettering on the lower inside rims and what the Mint describes as a high-securityfeature, "built into the coin to protect it from counterfeiting".

The Mint acknowledges that the coin is not 100 per cent counterfeit-proof. However, it will cost criminals far more to replicate, and the security features, which include undisclosed elements,will make it easier to spot and remove dodgy coins from circulation.

The new coin features an image of Elizabeth II, the fifth coin portrait of the Queen since 1953, on one side and a design by the 15-year-old competition-winner, David Pearce, on the other. Itshows the English rose, the Welsh leek, the Northern Irish shamrock and the Scottish thistle.

To read the complete article, see:
There will be no mistaking or faking the new £1 coin(www.thetimes.co.uk/article/there-will-be-no-mistaking-or-faking-the-new-1-coin-bw9n9bzsm)