The alleged forgery of a £1 circulation coin recently issued by the Royal Mint has been determined to be a production error rather than a counterfeit.
According to a story published by The Telegraph on April 25, a spokesman for the Royal Mint said they are “confident” the coin is legitimate after analyzing images of the coin.
The production error could carry some numismatic interest—and value—if the mint’s claims are true.
“We are not aware of any counterfeits entering circulation,” a Royal Mint spokesman told The Telegraph. “Variances will always occur in a small number of coins, particularly in the striking process, due to the high volumes and speed of production.”
A total of 1.5 billion new £1 coins, the first of which entered circulation last month, are slated to be issued.
Baldwin’s Dominic Chorney told The Telegraph several of the coin’s elements are “mis-aligned.”
“The coin appears to be a mis-strike, meaning it is a genuine coin which has become mis-aligned during the striking process,” he said, adding the mis-strike appears to have removed the coin’s security hologram.
It is unknown how many misprinted £1 coins have been struck by the Royal Mint at this time.