I looked through my change purse this morning for 80 pence for the
Grauniad. I spied a pound coin that looked somewhat odd, and a closer look told me that it was counterfeit.
News reports of a rise in the number of counterfeit pound coins have appeared in the local news lately, but I've never actually seen one that I could identify as fake.
I tried to take pictures, but I'm not sufficiently skilled to do so. The colour isn't quite right: it's a bit shinier than a regular pound coin (which has the same metallic colour as a US nickle). If you hold the coin between thumb and forefinger so that the Queen's head on the reverse is vertical, turning the coin to show the observe reveals that the obverse is not vertical but leaning over to the right. The milling on the edge of the coin is only evident in the centre of the edge; the top and bottom of the edge are smooth.
Apparently about 1 in 10 of the coins in circulation is fake. I feel cheated, but, of course, I can't pass the coin along and I won't get any money back. I believe I got it in a supermarket, but am not sure.
There was a case in the 1930's where US one-dollar bills were appearing in small numbers in circulation. No one could figure out why the person wasn't counterfeiting $20 bills, as you could make 20 times the money from one of those. Finally, when the counterfeiter was discovered, he turned out to be a self-effacing person who just wanted a little money for things like newspapers, and groceries--he wasn't out to make a large profit from the crime. The one-pound coins go for £80 per 100 coins but cost up to £75 per 100 coins to make. The profit margin isn't very large.
