In the course of my work, which involves emptying vending machines, I get quite a few of these. It is actually illegal for me to have this coin as it is a forgery. There is no sharpness to the coin and it is obviously cast. This one is quite true to colour, many of them are far too orange and stand out clearly from the real ones. When the coin is flipped the reverse has a different orientation to the front, which is the clearest indication of a forged coin. This was the first design of forged pound that I discovered. At first this was the only design that was seen, but now the forgers seem to be using some of the other designs. So far I have only seen the Rank-Broadley portrait on forged pounds. "The most recent survey indicated a counterfeit rate of around 2.5%" - The Royal Mint More information from the Royal Mint: http://www.royalmint.com/Corporate/policies/CounterfeitPoundCoins.aspx
In Japan, they were having a problem not so much with forgeries (although I'm sure they must exist), but with similarity with coins of neighboring countries that had a much lower value, particularly the South Korean 500-won coin, which is almost exactly the same size as the Japanese 500-yen coin, but the Japanese coin is worth more than 10 times as much. At one time, there was quite a scam going in which Korean 500-won coins would be altered just enough to make them acceptable in Japanese vending machines. Then the user would either buy a drink and receive change back in Japanese coins that were worth 7 or 8 times the value of the Korean coin, or sometimes they would just press the change lever and get a Japanese 500-yen coin in return. Since then, the composition of the 500-yen coin has been changed so that vending machines will no longer accept the older 500-yen coins (and their altered foreign substitutes).
last i know they were wishing its 2.5% it has gone higher i am looking to see what they do to resolve it
Interesting photo, thanks for showing the piece! When presented this way, I would most probably recognize that this is a fake. But in everyday life it may well pass ... In Euroland we have two issues - again, not so much with counterfeited pieces but with "siblings" that are worth less. The €2 coin is quite similar to the 10 baht coin from Thailand which is worth about €0.20 ... Now the Thai piece was issued first, so they cannot be blamed. Then there is the Turkish 1 lira coin which is also a €2 lookalike and has a value of about €0.50 - and that is a problem especially in Cyprus where the Republic uses the euro while Northern Cyprus has the lira. Christian
You are so right about the 10 baht coins-- I took one out and compared it with a 2-euro coin, and sure enough, they are almost exactly the same size and the same bi-metallic design. I can see how a 10-baht coin could easily be mistaken for, say, a Spanish or even a Belgian 2-euro coin.
I do believe that It is not actualy illeagle for you to own the coin, it is though illeagle for you to knowingly try and pass it on as a genuine coin. The Royal mint sugest that you hand it in to your local police station
I read on an official notice regarding forged banknotes that it is illegal for anybody to be in possession of one. I have guessed that it would be the same for coins, although I'm no expert. I would imagine that as the advice is to hand it in at a police station that it is not actually illegal to have the coin. Hmm, perhaps it is illegal to have it, and they have a set of handcuffs waiting for anybody that comes in with one
interesting post. for vending machines, any disc (without any design) with the same size will work, right ?
Again I do not think that it is illeagle for a collector to own a forged banknote as long as you are a genuine collector. http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/content.aspx?LegType=All+Prim...2&activetextdocid=1267154 Check out 16.2 If you wanted to collect them then I would sugest contacting the Bank of England and getting consent to collect and study them
Thanks for the link. 16:2 seems to back up completely what I have said about being in possession of counterfeit currency. I have sent an email to enquire about obtaining permission to collect them. Thank you for the suggestion. I'll post details of any reply I receive.
For some machines the weight would also need to be correct. No machine that I'm aware of would be able to read any design on a coin so a blank disk would work. Please don't put any blank disks into my machines though
The technology to recognize a coin design is there, the question in, how many vending machines actually use it? Most vending machines check the diameter, weight, edge and composition. Others also have sensors for the electric conductivity and magnetic properties of inserted coins - the more valuable the merchandise is that you can get out of such a machine, there more interesting it gets to use such checks. Modern machines may use light to "read" the design of a coin. After all, each coin design has its ups and downs ... I mean, specific areas of a piece will be raised, others are not. You can check an inserted coin by emitting light (RGB), and depending how it is reflected (this would be "read" by a camera), the coin is OK or not. One problem is to find the right path between being very sensitive and very tolerant - you want to refuse "wrong" coin but accept correct ones even if they are dirty or somewhat worn. But if such a check is built into a vending machine, blanks will definitely not work. Christian
That's really cool. A friend of mine came across a fake pound coin 15 years ago, and it went into my collection immediately.
I have what appear to be a fake Swiss 2-franc piece and a fake 1947 Canadian quarter. The design on the Swiss piece is fairly mushy, while the Canadian quarter seems to be made out of base metal.
