The number of fake £1 pound coins in the UK has reached more than 43 million a Freedom of Information request has revealed.
Talking Retail report:
A Freedom of Information request made to the Royal Mint by payment solutions provider CardSave has revealed that there is £43,586,400 of forged currency at large in the UK, a figure that represents 2.86% of the 1.524 billion pound coins currently in circulation in the UK.
The Royal Mint has been surveying the number of counterfeit coins annually since 2002 and says that it is working closely with the Serious Organised Crime Agency and the cash handling industry to maximise efforts to identify and withdraw counterfeits from circulation.
Neither businesses nor individuals are compensated for counterfeit money returned to the Royal Mint.