Fake pound coins

[thelawnet]

I have two £1 coins which have been rejected by a vending machine, which I consequently suspect to both be fake.

 

Unfortunately I can't find detailed specifications of these coins, and I don't have any others to compare.

 

One is a 2005 Menai Suspension Bridge, the other a 2004 Forth Bridge.

 

The edges appear the most suspicious aspects of the coins.

 

The edges on both of these coins consist of criss-crossing curved and angular lines, meeting with a dot. There are the following questionable aspects:

 

* the band round the 2004 coin does not appear to be perfectly centred

* one of the dots on the 2004 coin has not been punched out, it is just a weak impression

* the edge lines on the 2005 are much weaker than the 2004 (which is a very noticeable groove that you can run a finger nail along), and they peter out entirely at one part of the coin

* the solitary dot on the 2005 (the other is missing, the edge lines having faded at this point) aligns with the centre left of the coin, the top of the left suspenion tower, whereas the dots on the 2004 align with the bottom right on the Queen's neck, and just right of the 'G' in D.G

 

Are all of these indicators of counterfeits? Particularly, the alignment and dot positioning on the edge?

[gxseries]

I heard there were a batch of British pounds being heavily counterfeited and the counterfeiter was recently arrested. You might want to check out Robert Matthew's site for it: http://www.coinauthentication.co.uk, in particular this link here: http://www.coinauthentication.co.uk/newsletter9.html

[hairytoe]

Hello,

 

One thing you can do to tell if a pound coin is fake, is to drop it. Take a coin you know is not fake and drop it, then drop the one you think is fake. Usually fake pound coins are more clunky.

 

 

May help.....