Tuesday, 28 February 2017 12:00

Smash up that piggy bank and cash in your £1 coins and £5 notes

That’s right, smash up your piggy banks, stick your hands down the back of the sofa and crack open that bottle of change you’ve been stockpiling for a rainy day. Why you may well ask? Because, when the current £1 coin goes out of circulation later this year us Brit’s are set to lose £1.1 billion in forgotten spare change when the new pound coin takes over.

The familiar round pound coin will start disappearing next month when the new 12-sided version comes into circulation on March 28. It’s the first time a new £1 coin has been introduced since the old £1 notes were replaced in 1983, so it’s no wonder that a whopping 87 per cent of us are unaware of the October 15 deadline to spend the current £1 coins before they cease to become legal tender.

The change is designed to keep a step ahead of forgers who have mastered how to replicate the original with an estimated £45 million worth of fake £1 coins in circulation. One of its most advanced security features is a hologram which changes from a '£' symbol to the number '1' when the coin is seen from different angles.

There are also plans to release a new £10 note this summer which will feature classic author Jane Austen and in three years’ time they’ll be a new £20 note which will feature the painter JMW Turner.

So, don’t get caught short. Start spending now – yes, you heard us right. Start spending now, because let’s face it lugging a bag of coins around with us all the way to those rare things called high street bank branches that have been closing left right and centre is a real nuisance, and with many not even providing a counter service these days – remember the self-serve machines don’t take change, only notes!! So, it really is cause for guilt-free spending!!

Even Baroness Neville Rolfe, commercial secretary to the Treasury agrees: “Our message is clear - if you have a round one pound coin sitting at home or in your wallet, you need to spend it”. But if you did want to convert those pound coins into savings, the sensible among us will no doubt be depositing their cash stash into a bank or building society savings account.

And while we’re talking out losing out when it comes to your cash – don’t forget that there are almost 165 million old £5 notes out there... and soon you won't be able to spend them either!! Just four months ago, the new five pound notes were released and you’ve got just four months to spend the old ones before they become ‘worthless’ bits of paper. On May 5, the old-fashioned cotton paper notes will no longer be legal tender so you won’t be able to spend them.

Fret not though, because while high street banks will stop exchanging them after the cut-off date, The Bank of England is legally obliged to. So, in reality, notes keep their face value for all time, but coins don’t and The Bank of England will not offer an exchange service for your old £1 coins. Although we highly doubt you fancy a trip to London just to exchange your fivers in person?!

And as importantly, don’t forget to check your new fivers – you could have the last ‘golden ticket. There is only one of the four £50,000 Jane Austen fiver unaccounted for... could it be in your wallet? Tiny portraits of author Jane Austen have been added to four of the new £5 notes by micro-engraver Graham Short, and if you’ve got one it could be worth £50,000. With only one left, keep your eyes peeled for the serial number that starts AM32 – Happy hunting!

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