Yahoo News New pound coin: Royal Mint feels the pressure as website overloaded with traffic
The Royal Mint has been overloaded with eager visitors to its website who want to find out about the new pound coin.
The 12-sided coin enters circulation today so many people are trying to find out how to get hold of it.
Visitors to the website have been put in a queue and have to wait until other people leave the page before they can see the information.
A spokesman from the Royal Mint said: “We are experiencing quite a demand at present from people interested in the new £1 coin – both circulating and commemorative editions.”
Shops will stop taking the old coins on Oct 15.
The old £1 coins are being discontinued as they are too easily faked, says the Royal Mint.
About one in 30 of the current £1 coins in circulation today are counterfeit. The Royal Mint has created a much more secure coin, making it harder to replicate.
The new features include a hologram image on the coin, micro-lettering on the side and a "hidden high security feature" that the Royal Mint is not revealing.
The coin is made of two metals and has a new design. The design is by David Pearce, who won a competition at the age of 15. It has the English rose, the Welsh leek, the Scottish thistle and the Northern Irish shamrock emerging from one stem within a royal coronet.
