Twelve sides help your fingers. The secret helps the machine.
The replacement launched on 28 March 2017 with two metals, alternating milled edges, micro-lettering and a latent image that flips between £ and 1. Its outline also echoes the pre-decimal threepenny bit.
The less showy defence is the Royal Mint’s High Security Feature, built into the coin and readable at speed as a yes-or-no authenticity check. Unlike older electromagnetic signatures, the Mint says it does not wear away and confuse sorting machines.
See the £1 coin’s security features →Britain’s secure pound carried a 15-year-old’s design.
Ten years old. One very tall mountain.
Between 22 and 29 July, weather permitting, 10-year-old JayJay Calvert is taking on Ben Nevis. He is raising money for the Ringside Charitable Trust, which is working to create a care home for former boxers in need.
Back JayJay’s climb →The cash machine ate your card - on purpose.
Tuesday: how early British cash machines dispensed a fixed £20, kept the punched card, made a bank clerk update the ledger, then posted the card back.