361–370 of 421 posts
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1 in 30 pound coins is fake. If you have a handful of smash and examine the pound coins you can usually find at least 1 fake one. Counterfeiters made millions before anyone caught on
Off topic: I love English idioms like "handful of smash." Keeps me smiling.
For any interested in the related costs: https://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/mar/19/cost-new-pound... Seems like there are £45m worth of counterfeit coins in circulation, but the switch may cost over £100 million. ____ EDIT: The percent of fake coins in circulation appears to be in flux, which makes me wonder what methods they use to estimate the fakes in circulation, if they use controls like injecting known fake…
There are £45m of fake pound coins in circulation currently . The various banks and mint, etc, will be removing them as they come in, taking losses from that. There's an ongoing cost every day. If a one-time cost of £100m will remove the fake coins and prevent new fakes, it's well worth the price tag.
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True rage is having a machine reject your money for overpriced parking while you stand under one of those anti-loitering alarms.
It would be even better had one received the money in question as change from such a machine...
So I put my money in the drink machine and hit the coin return. Nothing happened. I tried a few times and figured the coin return was broken or that it was out of coins. The only thing in the machine was soda, which I can't drink if I don't want to trigger my acid reflux. But I bought one anyway since otherwise my money was "wasted", thinking I'd give the soda to a friend later.
Of course, once I bought the soda, the machine spat out all my change: 3 quarters and 2 dollar coins - now I finally had coins that I could buy food with. Naturally, the food machine didn't accept dollar coins. Most machines here don't, so no food for me.
I have about a dozen £1 coins in my informal 'collection of currency from other places' bag and it looks like 2 of them are probably counterfeit (at least by the standards of the Royal Mint) one clearly is, the date and back picture don't match, the other has fairly poor milling around it.
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The UK has a large market in coin-operated gambling machines - there are heavily-regulated low-stakes ones in all kinds of non-casino locations and, I think, higher-stakes ones in legal betting shops. A relative who works in the industry told me he sees large numbers of counterfeit pound coins. I would guess counterfeiters might launder coins through machines. Or even, though I've never seen it, sell discount coins d…
Many gambling machines have a 70% return. Ie. 70% of money put in is paid out again. One could probably go to a casino with a bag of fake coins, put 50 in each machine, and take any and all winnings. Some machines even pay out winnings in notes.
FOBT winnings are paid out via a receipt that is redeemed over the counter, so you can use them to convert coins into notes very easily. Gambling winnings are not subject to tax in the UK, so these machines are an extremely attractive money laundering method. Britain has around 9,000 betting shops, so it's easy to move around and avoid suspicion.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/08/gambling-mac...
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Interesting. Thanks for the links. I have indeed had some pound coins which were tatty round the edges and had to be pushed through a self-service checkout several times or wouldn't even go through at all. I still hadn't realised they might be fake, though. I have noticed that a lot of old 10p coins are noticeably a lot thinner (presumably worn down rather than starting out thinner) than new ones. Is this as it shoul…
I have noticed that a lot of old 10p coins are noticeably a lot thinner (presumably worn down rather than starting out thinner) Prior to about 2010, 5p and 10p coins really were thinner. They were changed from copper/nickel alloy (Cupronickel) to nickel-plated steel to reduce costs. But in order to maintain the same weight, the coins had to be made thicker.
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My best bet, after mulling this over for a few minutes is that the fake coins are sold in bulk to people who handle lots of small change - kiosks, fast-food joints etc - then they just mix them in with the real money in the register for giving change.
What I want to know is why would you counterfeit (serious charge) when you can use a similar looking coin? For example I was given a South African 5 Rand coin in my change in Amsterdam (should have been a €2 coin): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:5-za-rand.JPG Broke a 20 getting intoxicated in a bar/coffeeshop, then bought a kebab after on my walk back. Kebab shop was only place I got metal change that night. I di…
Adjusted only for changes in the CPI, Josh Tatum netted $121 in today's dollars every time he spent a gold-plated nickel.
(0) https://www.pcgs.com/News/The-Man-Who-Could-Stop-The-Mint
What happens if they have to remove the thistle and the shamrock after Brexit?
It isn't really a problem because Scotland will keep the pound, and very little will change in that regard.
If Scotland votes to leave it will be to remain in the EU debate after Indyref1 led me to conclude that Scotland would have to petition the EU to join as a new member instead of inheriting the UK's membership, and the EU requires new members to adopt the Euro... so if Indyref2 passes then they'll have the Euro.
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This coin is being produced for the UK.
Yes, but they also produced coins and notes for 39 other countries in 2015-16: http://www.royalmint.com/~/media/Files/AnnualReports/ar_2015...