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You've never had a vending machine or self-service checkout reject a pound coin before? I've held ones which are noticeable lighter and more worn than a real on

You've never had a vending machine or self-service checkout reject a pound coin before? I've held ones which are noticeable lighter and more worn than a real one. You've just never really paid attention.

oneeyedpigeon 10y ago
Yes, but I've been conditioned into thinking a fault with the vending machine is much more likely than a counterfeit coin. Just the other day, I was using a vending machine that had a special panel on the front of it, with the specific purpose of rubbing your coins on it in the event that the machine didn't recognise them! I've definitely noticed worn coins before. Some of the current pound coins have been in circulation for 34 years, though, so I'm not surprised there'd be quite a range of wear.
wolfgke 10y ago
At least for Euro coins (are these more difficult to fake?) it often happened to me that some vending machine accepted a coin only after multiple tries.
- avar 10y ago
  Same for Euro notes. It often takes multiple tries of trying to straighten out the bill before a vending machine will eat it.
- iandioch 10y ago
  What might be fun to try is to use a Euro 5c coin in a machine that expects 20p sterling coins. Living on the border with Northern Ireland, we figured out when I was young that the sweet machines in Northern shopping centres could be conned like that.
  - UncleSlacky 10y ago
    In the 80s I was able to use 5p coins (same size as the modern 10p) instead of quarters in arcade machines when I was on holiday in Florida.
  - blacksmith_tb 10y ago
    US 5 cent coins (aka nickels) are (or used to be) the same diameter and weight as 20p sterling coins as well, as a grad student in London I may have accidentally used a few in vending machines and doing laundry...
  - lostlogin 10y ago
    The same trick worked with Australian $1 coins going into machines expecting NZ $2. imho having $1 larger than $2 isn't right.
  - mathewsanders 10y ago
    The old (pre ~2005) New Zealand 50cent coin was a match for 5 franc coin in Switzerland (~5USD). I knew postgrads that would always stock up to use in vending machines, after finding that out I've always been curious to know how much research a mint does to prevent this from being possible.
    - Scoundreller 10y ago
      >I've always been curious to know how much research a mint does to prevent this from being possible. At the Canadian/US mint, seemingly zero.

oneeyedpigeon 10y ago

Yes, but I've been conditioned into thinking a fault with the vending machine is much more likely than a counterfeit coin. Just the other day, I was using a vending machine that had a special panel on the front of it, with the specific purpose of rubbing your coins on it in the event that the machine didn't recognise them! I've definitely noticed worn coins before. Some of the current pound coins have been in circulation for 34 years, though, so I'm not surprised there'd be quite a range of wear.

wolfgke 10y ago

At least for Euro coins (are these more difficult to fake?) it often happened to me that some vending machine accepted a coin only after multiple tries.

avar 10y ago
Same for Euro notes. It often takes multiple tries of trying to straighten out the bill before a vending machine will eat it.
iandioch 10y ago
What might be fun to try is to use a Euro 5c coin in a machine that expects 20p sterling coins. Living on the border with Northern Ireland, we figured out when I was young that the sweet machines in Northern shopping centres could be conned like that.
- UncleSlacky 10y ago
  In the 80s I was able to use 5p coins (same size as the modern 10p) instead of quarters in arcade machines when I was on holiday in Florida.
- blacksmith_tb 10y ago
  US 5 cent coins (aka nickels) are (or used to be) the same diameter and weight as 20p sterling coins as well, as a grad student in London I may have accidentally used a few in vending machines and doing laundry...
- lostlogin 10y ago
  The same trick worked with Australian $1 coins going into machines expecting NZ $2. imho having $1 larger than $2 isn't right.
- mathewsanders 10y ago
  The old (pre ~2005) New Zealand 50cent coin was a match for 5 franc coin in Switzerland (~5USD). I knew postgrads that would always stock up to use in vending machines, after finding that out I've always been curious to know how much research a mint does to prevent this from being possible.
  - Scoundreller 10y ago
    >I've always been curious to know how much research a mint does to prevent this from being possible. At the Canadian/US mint, seemingly zero.