Fake One Pound £1 Coins

More common than you'd think!

Fake British 2004 Scottish one pound £1 coin with Forth Bridge showing poor quality strike

Looks OK on the face of it
Fake coins often look normal from a quick glance but on closer inspection you often find that the pattern is "soapy"

Stamped like on plasticine
The kind of flaws you spot are to do with the press that they use. The edges of the coin are often uneven from one side to another, with a double edge where there shuld be a clean single edge.

Fake British 2004 Scottish one pound £1 coin with poorly struck lettering and diagonal striations

Nicks the wrong way up
You also see all kinds of striations and nicks but the tell-tale factor is that they are embossed not indented on the face - they are imperfections in the stamp not nicks from wear and tear.

Fake UK one pound coin reverse showing three lions passant guardant with obvious flaws.
This coin was found in circulation in 2010. It shows poor quality casting with cracks in the cast. It has been photographed at its natural angle i. e. the reverse is rotated from the obverse. Request a larger version from the photographer to inspect the detail.

On the flip side
The other tell-tale sign is when the obverse and reverse of the coin (heads and tails) are not aligned when you flip the coin. They should line up if you rotate the coin around the vertical axis through the Queen's head.

Fake UK 2002 one pound coin obverse showing third portrait with obvious flaws

The killer tell though is that the edge stamping is always wrong. This alone is enough for the photographer to have collected five coins in three months simply by checking his change. More pictures available on request.

Discount licence
If you want to license the images directly at a discount, contact the photographer at sales@smyrnoff.com otherwise use the links above to license through Alamy.