CONSUMERS have just two weeks left to spend the old one pound coin before it is phased out.
The old coins will no longer be legal tender from Sunday October 15, with a billion taken out of circulation already.
From Monday October 16 shops will no longer be obliged to accept the old coins and they must be deposited in bank accounts.
A spokesman for the Royal Mint said: “From midnight on Sunday October 15, shops will no longer accept these coins, but you will still be able to take them to your bank. We would encourage you to spend, bank or donate your round one pound coins before October 15.”
The new coin was introduced on March 28 because one-in-30 old pound coins currently in circulation are fake, according to the Royal Mint.
The 12-sided version is designed to be harder to counterfeit. It is bimetallic – the outer ring is nickel brass and the inner ring is nickel-plated alloy.
The old £1 coin was introduced in 1983 as part of the phasing-out of the one pound note, which was withdrawn five years later.
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