This week on TV there was a piece about fake £1 coins - up to 3% of those in circulation. I found I had one. According to the Bank of England website, anyone finding one is supposed to hand it in to their local police station.
This afternoon I visited the police and tried to hand in my dodgy £1. They told me that they don't deal with this, and suggested I hand it in at a bank. I happened to be visiting my bank too, so I tried again there. The cashier was rather reluctant to accept it, on the grounds that she didn't know what to do with it. She told me that they have a procedure for fake notes but not fake coins. She took it and put it by her till. I hope her boss knows what to do with it.
Afterwards I reflected that maybe there might be fewer dodgy coins in circulation if there was actually a reliable mechanism for honest people to hand them in!
This afternoon I visited the police and tried to hand in my dodgy £1. They told me that they don't deal with this, and suggested I hand it in at a bank. I happened to be visiting my bank too, so I tried again there. The cashier was rather reluctant to accept it, on the grounds that she didn't know what to do with it. She told me that they have a procedure for fake notes but not fake coins. She took it and put it by her till. I hope her boss knows what to do with it.
Afterwards I reflected that maybe there might be fewer dodgy coins in circulation if there was actually a reliable mechanism for honest people to hand them in!
You might not be surprised to know that I was not surprised at my findings. The police here seem to have lost interest in most forms of crime, apart from whatever happens to be their 'target of the month'.
Strangely, banks seem to have lost interest in money too. I once had a bank (with Bureau de Change on the door) tell me that they don't stock Euros so I should go to the travel agent over the road. I was tempted to ask the bank if they now sold package holidays instead of handling money.
Strangely, banks seem to have lost interest in money too. I once had a bank (with Bureau de Change on the door) tell me that they don't stock Euros so I should go to the travel agent over the road. I was tempted to ask the bank if they now sold package holidays instead of handling money.
Yes, I wondered why people bother. Suppose you went to the trouble and expense of making lots of fake coins. How do you use them? You can't just change them at a bank for 'real' money; well you might manage it once but the bank would spot them eventually. I doubt if someone would sell you a car for 15000 £1 coins. If you drip feed them when buying food, alcohol etc it would take a long while to recoup your investment. £10 or £20 notes seem a much more profitable way for the forger to have a successful career in crime.
but just imagine, even if they were £1 and you go to a vending machine, pop those coins in buy whatever you want.. Use them on all vending machines you find..
the vending machine guy shows up..takes the coins from the machines, does same for all other machines, packs them all up together, takes it to bank..
bank wont even ask him a question because hes a regular joe..
the point here is not being profitable but causing pain to the financial system and the economy, also even if the real coins in circulation are replaced by the fake ones,
the real ones go to other places (*countries*) where they are priced more...
the vending machine guy shows up..takes the coins from the machines, does same for all other machines, packs them all up together, takes it to bank..
bank wont even ask him a question because hes a regular joe..
the point here is not being profitable but causing pain to the financial system and the economy, also even if the real coins in circulation are replaced by the fake ones,
the real ones go to other places (*countries*) where they are priced more...
Vending machines may be better at detecting fakes than bank cashiers. Shopkeepers have a vested interest in not detecting them: most they hand out in change back to their customers, and any they bank are likely not to be spotted. It is only the ones which you spot which lose you money, as you then commit an offence by using them.
As people have said, forging money is not much different from quantitative easing - both are forms of theft.
As people have said, forging money is not much different from quantitative easing - both are forms of theft.
Never checked £1 coins but for many years I have collected them as a way of saving (at the end of each day I put all my £1 and £2 coins in a jar which I take to the bank every now and then).
I must have handed in way over 10 000 coins over the years, not once was a single one rejected and the banks weigh them every time. Never ever had any vending machine of any kind rejecting a pound or two pound coin either, although all other coins are regularly spat back out.
I must have handed in way over 10 000 coins over the years, not once was a single one rejected and the banks weigh them every time. Never ever had any vending machine of any kind rejecting a pound or two pound coin either, although all other coins are regularly spat back out.
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