Although I'm sure the average coin collector can spot a fake coin a mile off I though these images would be rather amusing, in a way. Consider the fact that 1% of all £1 coins are fakes (that's about 1,000,000 of them) you would think people would be able to spot them a mile off.

Alais they still circulate freely & as most people don't check for them at all and if you get a bundle of coins altogether in change you wouldn't check either (myself included, especially when the shop has run out of £5 notes & you end up with about 8 £1 coins as they have no £2 coins either from a £10 note) it's hardly pratical to check.

So here we go with quite a few images showing the good, bad & ugly fakes, to be fair none of them are particually good. Even more suprising a fake £2 coin in this lot as well

Part 1

£2 Coin



My younger brother got this in change a few years back & new it was fake but only once he went through his change, the lettering is obviously the biggest giveaway, but the reverse just has very poor detail in the centre, even worse that a well circulated coin. The engraving on the side is quite good however

£1 2005 Real & Fake comparison



The real is on the left & the fake on the right, as you can see the shine on the fake is just not right & the coin has a matt pattern on the blank parts. The Queen's head also lacks detail, which always gives away fakes with this head (fourth portrait). The reverse is better although finer details are blurred. The pattern on the side is spot on though, except for the vertical line detail which is wrong in places.

£1 1983 with poor colour & silver showing in dents



Suprisingly this coin has circulated long enough for it to get this bad, this has resulted in the chips & dents in the coin to show up the silver underneath. Detail on the reverse isn't too bad considering. Lettering on the side is virtually non existant although traces of it exist in certain places.

£1 2000 three examples of fakes



Three fake pounds with the same design & the same year. The design is correct although the ones on the left & in the middle show die cracks on the head side, the one in the middle being worst. The one on the right has distorted beading in the top left tails side. The colour variations can be seen between all three coins. Writing on the edge varies between not bad to non existant

£1 1997 two examples



The year is correct although both reverses are quite poor, the coin on the left has lost all detail on the top lion, especially the left. The coin on the right has what looks like part of someones fingerprint above the top lion's tail. The lettering on the edge of both is very poor

Part 2

1986 coin with 1996 reverse



Dated ten years too early this whole coin is just poor, the TH of ELIZABETH has been "mistruck", the reverse might as well be blank due to the lack of detail, the writing on the side is average but not fantastic. The fact it's dated 10 years too early just makes it poor altogether.

1986 & 1995 coins with 1994 reverse



Two here with the same Scottish design but with completely different & incorrect years. The one on the left is dated 1986 & has very worn detail. The 1995 version is alot better, one of the best fakes I have seen but the year proves it is fake. The writing on the side of both coins is rather good considering.

1987 coin with 1986 reverse



Again another one not too bad but the ONE POUND legend on the reverse is too worn for a coin it's age, add to the fact that the year is out by one year & the beading on the bottom right reverse is distorted gives this away as a fake. The writing on the side is complete but crude.

There you go hope this is some way helps people who don't live in the UK, have collected some pound coins & suspect they may be fake or think they have a rare coin because it's a different year.

Feel free to post images of any fakes you may have got over the years & still have on your posession

Excellent write up! I've only encountered one counterfeit out of hundreds that I have handled in the past few years.

Many thanks for sharing. Makes me wonder how the counterfeiters deal with so much different reverses.

Very interesting Johnny, thanks for sharing!

Very interesting write up, I have picked up a couple normaly in the supermarket LOL, I even check the notes they give me in change and will point out that they check the ones I give them if any comments are made

De Orc

I have one that a collector friend sent to me a couple of years back.

It would be interesting to know how these counterfeits get fronted, are they sold by the manufacturers to wholesalers etc? How do they make it into circulation, are they just spent with a regular purchase or through a vending machine etc? Do these have similar diagnostics to the authentic coins that they can be spent in vending machines?

Thanks for the comments, I did wonder if anyoen would be interested in this.

To answer Scottish Money's question, most of these seem to come from Corner Shops (Grocers, Newsagents, Tobbaconists, Off Licences - where most come from), Petrol Garages & British Rail ticket offices.

The biggest problem with them is that vending machines, train ticket machines, etc. won't accept 99% of them, I have only managed to get rid of one of them via this way. This is mainly due to the fact they are made of Lead or simular cheap metal (die cast possibly)

I have given them back to the Off Licences (Liqour Stores) that I have recieved them from in the past, why do I want their shifty money They every rarely come out of a High Street brand store as I presume most of them pick up on them straight away.

The £2 coin btw is the only fake I've ever come across, my brother got it when he came back from University in Nottingham so perhaps they make them up t'north rather than dan safth

I am quite fascinated with it, because it is a seemingly huge and unquashable operation which has existed for years. Whilst husts have been made of some of the perps, in the main these things continue to be manufactured, and I would imagine they are wholesaled to the person whom uses them in the shops etc. It can be a drawback of using coins vs. paper money as the diagnostics available to the average person to render a determination of authenticity are far fewer on initial site.

Here in the USA we haven't a problem with circulating counterfeit coinages because of the token value of every coin which is in everyday usage. The largest circulating coin is a 25¢ coin which has a nominal value in terms of real spending value, so there is no profit in manufacturing forgeries of it. In fact we are at the point where the greater portion of the coinage in circulation here in the USA has a higher melt value vs. face value, ie the cents and five cents coins to the point at which enterprising individuals are starting to remove them from circulation.

In situations such as Britain with circulating £1 and somewhat less circulating £2 coins the situation is different, where you have coinage circulating with a value of 8 and 16 times the value of the largest circulating coinage in the USA. There is much greater range for profit and opportunity for the nefarious to create a circulating medium of dubious nature and take advantage of the economy for gain.

The issue with the forged £1 coins has been around since 1983 when they took over from the venerable £1 note. There are collectors in the UK that specialise in these, as you have noted there are a great number of varieties with mules etc. which make for quite an interesting however unprofitable range of collecting.

Ah when I lived in Nottingham I did know of a person who was arrested for producing £1 coins, he was a regular customer at a shop I worked at

Were they all of the same design?

Interesting, I did consider off loading them to the offenders where they came from in the first place but I have kept them out of interest.


I'm thinking of doing a little experiment with the two 2005 coins (I have two of these fake 2005 coins so can afford to experiment on one of them), Top Gear style (like one of their challenges although not involving cars this time)

Basically the two coins will face a series of "tourture experiments" of which would be:

Weathering
The two coins are either left on my bedroom window ledge or in a dark, damp corner of my garder for a week to see how well they tarnish

Spare Change
The two coins are placed in a money bag with several other loose coins, of which are either kept in my coat pocket or in a rucksack for a week to see how they hold up

Dangerous Tossing
The two coins are dropped from various heights on to my garden paving 20 times a day for a week to see how well they dent or not and how well the fake holds up.

The only other challenge was to put them in the over for ten minutes to see what would happen to them, but I don't want lead or diecast metal melted all over the oven so I think it's best not to do that one

Anybody think this would be a good idea or can think of any other challenges at all, or if they should be done in a different order.

The other two that just popped in my head was to either leave them in soapy water for a week or bury them in the back garden for a week. What do you guys think?

I think that they were, but am not 100% sure of that, I heard he was caught because he went to the corner shop to buy Cigs and used the fakes LOL of course the shop owner knew him and then so did the police

It would be kind of fun to have "Trial by Bristol" ala Top Gear programming, I wonder that they will hold up as well as the Toyota Pickup truck?

For one hell of a lot of entertainment you could film it and plug it up to youtube.

Unfortunately I don't have the equipment to record it However I'll take pictures where neccessary

It'll be interesting to see how well the fake holds up, they seem to have mastered it a bit better compared to the earlier examples

Gees, an I was hoping for "Trial By Bristol" Fake Edition

I watch "Top Gear" on the BBC from time to time, but the Toyota episode was the cheekiest and best by far, especially with the accompanying musical ensemble which added to the suspense.

I'll try me best writing it in the style of Clarkson, well how he would speak about it.

Nice thread.

You could buy these fakes from the cleaners on major construction sites I worked on in London during the 90's.
I've seen plenty some good and some bad.

The last couple of fakes I had put to one side were accidently taken by one of my daughters and used as dinner money.

Very interesting write up. Thanks for sharing.