Thousands of shops will continue to accept the old £1 coin after this coming Sunday’s Royal Mint deadline for spending, exchanging or donating them.
The Federation of Small Businesses, which represents around 170,000 small firms across the UK, advised its members to continue to accept the round coins, in order to provide a “useful economic service” to customers.
“Shopkeepers will not want to let their loyal customers down by saying they cannot pay with a round pound if they do not have any change”, a spokesperson for the FSB said.
Poundland also said its stores would accept the old £1 coin for more than two weeks after Sunday’s deadline, describing the move as a “no-brainer”.
Barry Williams, its managing director, said: “Providing an extra convenience for shoppers to lighten their pockets while doing the weekly shop rather than making a separate trip to the bank or post office will come as good news.”
The Royal Mint estimates that around 1.2 billion old £1 coins will have been handed in by this weekend, leaving 500 million still in circulation.
There had been warnings of chaos as retailers struggled to update their self-service machines to accept the new 12-sided coins in time. The Sunday Times reported that trolleys at some Sainsbury’s and Tesco branches won’t be ready in time, six months after the new coins became legal tender.
Transport for London has said some ticket machines on Overground and tram services are unlikely to be ready for the new £1 coin until the end of the year.
Major banks have said that they will continue to accept deposits of round £1 coins after 15 October and Post Offices will also still accept them.
The BBC is also running a Children in Need campaign, 'Pudsey's Round Pound Countdown', to persuade people to donate old coins to the charity if they can.
The Government announced the new £1 coin in the 2014 Budget and it has been described by the Royal Mint as “the most secure coin in the world”.
The 12-sided coin has a number of features that make it considerably more difficult to fake. It is made from two metals, the outer gold ring of nickel-brass and the inner section of nickel-plated alloy. The old coins won’t be wasted: some of those returned by the public will be melted down and used to make the 12-sided version.
