In the United Kingdom, the Royal Mint has upped the ante in its battle against counterfeiters. In March 2017, the Royal Mint unveiled its new 12-sided one pound (£1) coin, touting high-tech safeguards intended to make the coin impossible for forgers to replicate. According to the Royal Mint, it is "the most secure coin in the world." They have stayed quiet about the specifics of the coin’s secrets, but it’s believed that the top layer of metal contains pigments that form a “secret binary code” that can only be read using a specific frequency of ultraviolet light used in the Royal Mint's detection machines.
The impenetrable British pound :
- There is also tiny lettering around the coin’s edges, produced by a state-of-the-art laser. Gordon Summers, chief engraver at the Royal Mint, says the laser system costs about £500,000 ($618,650 USD), a further deterrent for forgers.
- Elsewhere on the coin, a hologram-like image changes from a sterling symbol to the number 1 when the coin is viewed at different angles.
- The £1 coin’s design -- created by 15-year-old David Pearce, who won a public design competition -- features a rose to represent England, a leek for Wales, a shamrock for Northern Ireland, and a thistle for Scotland -- all emerging from a royal coronet.