Yahoo News Smooth edges mean new £1 coin may burn a hole in your pocket, but won't damage it
It is a coin with 12 sides, but when the public finally get their hands on the new pound next week they may well be struck by its roundness.
The Royal Mint has made a conscious decision to make its corners less pointy, it has emerged, to avoid it damaging people's clothing and - leaving a hole in their pockets.
Concern in relation to the coin's sharp corners was first raised when the Treasury consulted on the design of the coin back in 2015.
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It was suggested that the corners could wear holes in clothing, particularly trouser pockets, and that the metal would be likely wear over the lifetime of the coin.
The document says the more curved design would "also have the added benefit of reducing the chances of their wearing holes in clothing (for example trouser pockets)."
Other reasons for a rounder design included reducing the wear and tear on machinery.
As a result the coin's final design has 12 rounded edges which are smooth and will not catch on clothing.
The 12-sided coin, based on the old 12-sided threepenny bit, which went out of circulation in 1971, will enter circulation on March 28, six months before the current £1 is phased out in October.
During this time both coins will be accepted as legal tender. The tails side of the coin was designed by a schoolboy who a national competition to design it.
David Pearce, 15, from Walsall beat off competition from over 6,000 entries, including adults, to design the face of the coin, which is being introduced because the current £1 has become vulnerable to counterfeiters.
The design was then refined by David Lawrence, the renowned coin artist, and Stephen Raw, a lettering expert. To prepare for its introduction the Royal Mint ceased production of the round pound in December 2015.
However, increased public demand for the popular quid over the summer months saw stocks run unusually low, so the presses at The Royal Mint's site in Llantrisant, South Wales, struck a short run of round one pounds once again, to meet this spike in demand.
A spokesman for Royal Mint said: "Following the consultation on the specification of the coin, we engaged directly with the manufacturers of coin validation and operating mechanisms to optimise the specification for acceptance in coinoperated equipment.
"We listened to some concerns raised by key stakeholders regarding the sharpness of the coin edges and its “rollability” within mechanisms and modified the edges."
