THERE has been much speculation in recent months about whether Scotland’s future currency will be the euro or the groat - but while it remains part of the UK, the answer from Tuesday will be “the dodecagon”.
The new 12-sided pound coin enters circulation on March 28, and while businesses have been preparing for it since 2014, many are counting the cost of the transition.
The last redesign of the five pence and ten pence coins is though to have cost British businesses around £80 million, according to a Treasury Economic Impact Assessment.
A straw poll of British Retail Consortium (BRC) members, who account for around 22% of UK retail turnover, found the redesign has cost them £4.8 million.
“If you crudely extrapolate that across the industry then that is £22 million in preparing for the launch of the new pound coin,” said BRC policy adviser Andrew Cregan.
“That’s not taking into account the new five pound note that came into play last year, and the new ten pound note coming in next year, so it’s £22 million just on the new pound coin alone.”
The new coin is designed to crack down on counterfeiting, with around three per cent of the 1.5 billion one pound coins in circulation thought to be fakes.
That amounts to around £45 million of counterfeit cash doing the rounds, so retailers could ultimately end up quids in when it is taken out of circulation in October 2017.
“A retailer wouldn’t knowingly take a fake pound coin, but if they do they take the hit,” said Cregan.
“Obviously there’s a significant cost to industry adapting machines and training staff with regards to the new coins coming into circulation.
“But we have been working with the Royal Mint and the Treasury since 2014 to ensure that the process takes place as smoothly as possible, and there’s a high degree of readiness on our part.”
Unlike banknotes, which are issued in Scotland and infamously rejected by English cabbies and shopkeepers, coins are issued solely by the Royal Mint and are standard throughout the UK.
“The Scottish issuing banks have their own version of the polymer five pound note, and later this year will be launching three versions of the polymer ten, but there are no plans for a Scottish version of the one pound coin,” said Cregan.
Colin Borland, head of devolved nations at the Federation of Small Businesses, said their members are also concerned about the cost of the 12-sided revolution, particularly those with coin-operated vending machines.
“Some people have an arrangement where if the machine on their premises is leased then obviously the supplier would bear some of that cost, but if they own it they would have to bear some of that cost themselves,” he said.
“If you’ve got lots of those machines then obviously that cost multiplies. It could be anything from a single vending machine in a staff canteen to a campsite with several dozen coin-operated showers.
“We asked our members in Scotland if they had any issues with this, and we found that there were probably more people [having issues] than you would have thought in the days of smart cards and contactless technology.
“But at the same time, we know why the Royal Mint is doing it: because there is a shocking number of fake pound coins out there.
“They have given us enough warning, but it doesn’t alter the fact that it’s a change we’re going to have to pay for.”
The Royal Mint said: “Businesses across the UK which handle cash have been informed of the need to prepare for the introduction.
“Many will have upgraded their machines to accept the new one pound coin; however, not all machines will work with the new coin from the date of introduction. Please talk to the equipment owner if you have any questions.
“The legal tender status of the round one pound coin will be withdrawn on 15 October 2017. From this date shops will no longer accept these coins, but you will still be able to take them to your bank. We would encourage you to use your coins or return them to your bank before 15 October.”
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