Fake pound coins

explayer · Post by **explayer** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 2:03 pm

I know this has been much discussed here in the past , but surely it can never have been worse than now? I reckon about one in five or six pound coins have been fake out of Quiz machines recently. The thing is that they are not even any good , very lightweight , with colour or inscription bad or fading. Unlike the assorted Isle of Man or Gibraltar coins they don't go back into the machine so the landlords or machine owners have been filling the machines with these coins , presumably from the previous days till takings. Lucky bus drivers don't look closely at coins round here!

Istenem · Post by **Istenem** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 4:35 pm

i find £1 coins very interesting so i read up on the subject and keep myself up to speed. the ratio is nowhere near 20% fake in London, perhaps 5-8%, maybe there is a counterfeiter near you in sheffield. both %ages are still above the BoE's official estimation. certain places are renowned; independent arcades fill their puggies with all manner of crap.

yes, most of the dodgy coins are bad fakes but some are quite sophisticated. there must be dozens of counterfeiters out there because the inaccuracies vary in composition/design/milling/weight/alignment also it is not uncommon to see designs/inscriptions which are not correct for the year. obviously the quickest way to verify your suspicion is to check the edge and/or whether the top corresponds on each side.

occasionally you find a very sophisticated fake, also occasionally you find a laughably bad one. i have kept one made from plaster of paris coated with heavy metal (which you can chip off) alongside a couple of near-perfect counterfeits. as for shifting them, i use them when i have to buy stuff from places i have the arse with. mainly the tube.

my favourite ever £1 coin from a quiz machine was a near-perfect frosted 1998 specimen. the only pound coins minted in 1998 were issued in proof sets. so somebody must have been that desperate for a go on foxy ladies that they ripped up a presentation set.

Real Pro gamer · Post by **Real Pro gamer** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 5:01 pm

If you get fobbed off with the odd fake coin, save them and use them in car park meters they usually take them! Lol

trayhop123 · Post by **trayhop123** » Sun Feb 19, 2012 1:02 am

the other way of course ,,,,,,, (im not condoning this mind lol) ,,,,,,, is to buy a mars bar or whatever with a 5 pound note ,,,,,,,,,, then as your walking out check your change (which you have skillfully swop'd) ,,,,,,,, '' oi m8 , whats this shit youve gave me ? '' lol

cool · Post by **cool** » Tue Feb 21, 2012 10:12 pm

where is the explayer living? What a load of bollocks. Having probably a couple of thousand of pound coins pass through my hands every month and unlucky if I find one.

David Healy · Post by **David Healy** » Tue Feb 21, 2012 11:20 pm

cool wrote:where is the explayer living? What a load of bollocks. Having probably a couple of thousand of pound coins pass through my hands every month and unlucky if I find one.

Cool, you need to pay more attention to your coins. No matter where you play, if you only have one fake in a couple of thousand, that is very lucky. I would suggest that your ratio is significantly higher. There has been a vast improvement in the standard of fakes over the years, in that most of them now have the correct year / design at least.

donttellhimpike · Post by **donttellhimpike** » Tue Feb 21, 2012 11:33 pm

They are certainly more numerous than once they were, i'll go along with Istenem's research and percentages, seems about right. They are better copies now than they used to be too. It's no longer a case of a handful of Swaziland Lilangenis with your Cluedo £20 prize or two of something stuck together to make a sovereign (Istenem please help me on what those two coins were!!).

Keep fighting everyone.

Pike

Scott · Post by **Scott** » Tue Feb 21, 2012 11:38 pm

Austrian schillings.

sausagefingaz · Post by **sausagefingaz** » Wed Feb 22, 2012 1:06 am

cool wrote:where is the explayer living? What a load of bollocks. Having probably a couple of thousand of pound coins pass through my hands every month and unlucky if I find one.

I expect you are simply not noticing many of the fakes as i see several every day and i dont play that much.
I usually get 1 or 2 per £70. I have a jar full of them!

messiah · Post by **messiah** » Wed Feb 22, 2012 11:36 pm

Cool does seem to play in the regions more that the typical urbanite quizzer.

cool · Post by **cool** » Wed Feb 22, 2012 11:44 pm

true and if the bank accepts my bagged up pound coins whats the problem fake or not?

quizard · Post by **quizard** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 12:38 am

I don't worry about them or waste any time checking them either. If someone gives me one back I just try and get rid of it in a machine or if that fails stick it in a charity box. But I have had really very few that have been returned over the years though.

titchno1 · Post by **titchno1** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 8:52 am

Iv never took any notice if iv had fakes or not. Same as notes. If I get them I just get rid off them normal.