UK Man jailed over 14m fake 1 pound coins

BBC, Friday, 14 December 2007, 14:35 GMT

A counterfeiter who produced fake 1 pound coins with an estimated total
value of 14m, has been jailed for five years.

Marcus Glindon, 37, from Enfield, north London, made the coins over
seven years from a workshop near his home.

When officers raided his home and nearby business, MG Engineering, in
March they found machines used to manufacture coins and counterfeit
dies.

Glindon admitted five counts relating to counterfeiting the coins at
Wood Green Crown Court.

Glindon was caught after an anonymous tip-off alerted police. He was
arrested and charged two days later.

He said that he worked mainly alone, producing coins for two men.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7144549.stm

Seems like a tiny sentence.

I would actually want one of those "coins" - would be interesting to see how mint officers mention that they can be quite difficult to distinguish as well as having the right weight and dimension.

The sentence does seem light by comparison to what such a felonious pursuit would have attained in the USA.

These forgeries sound like they were better than the previous types which were plated lead blanks, which were good for one use only, then if they got scratched the lead showed through. I have one of those that a friend in Scotland sent me a few years ago.

wow...they minted quite a lot of coins...