UK 1 Pound 1997

I got this coin from a friends old collection as he stopped collecting

I'm unable to find a match - 

if the coin visually matches, the year doesn't

there's a 1996 silver proof with Celtic Cross but the year on this coin is 1997 & it doesn't look like silver, it's a bit pale in appearance

weight: 9.33 gms

dia: 22.5 mm

thickness: 3.24 mm

could it be a fake??

kindly help

Afraid you've got a fake coin there.

Interestingly enough, I was able to find it in the Exonumia subsection of Numista: N#356146
As such, it must've been an incredibly common coin to forge.
 

The 1996 version of this coin does exist as a standard circulating coin (N#1390) as well as the silver proof & silver piedfort which it sounds like you've already come across.

COPIED FROM A PREVIOUS POST OF MINE:

The old round pound coins were heavily counterfeited. This was one of the major driving forces behind the switch to the new 12-sided coins.

The Royal Mint stated, in May 2015, that around 2.55% - roughly one in 40 - of all the round pounds in circulation were fake. In May 2014, they had stated that the rate of counterfeits was 3.03% - roughly one in 33. I can't find the exact original survey article (Google links to the modern page speaking about counterfeits of the new 12-sided pound), though there are plenty of newspaper headlines from around that era repeating the statistics.

The Numista catalogue is complete for UK round pounds. You can see the official list directly on the Royal Mint, which is reflected on Numista. https://www.royalmint.com/discover/uk-coins/coin-design-and-specifications/one-pound-coin/

If you have any mis-matched years & designs - they're fakes.

thanks for the very quick & very detailed response

so my piece now sits in the Exonumia :), makes an interesting add

Definitely a forgery 

There are four of the fake round UK pound coins on Numista Exonumia - I have got 2 of them. 😉

https://en.numista.com/catalogue/index.php?e=royaume-uni&r=&ct=exonumia&im1=&im2=&ttcf=y&cat=y&ru=&ca=6&no=&v=&i=&b=&ie=&u=&a=1994-1997&dg=&m=&f=&t=&w=&mt=&g=&se=&d=&c=&wi=&sw=

wow birismike, nice

i'm not likely to get another :)

thanks for the info though

Hi,

You're more than welcome, pleased it was able to help you out.
 

I've got a few forgeries myself - Off the top of my head the one I encountered most often was the 2006 Egyptian Arch (N#3807) or possibly the 2005 Menai Bridge (N#2763), neither of which are actually listed as a fake on Numista yet. I've also got one where someone made the Royal Arms as a metal cover, magnetised it, and then stuck it on the front of a penny. I mean, it's pathetically obvious as a fake being the wrong size, weight, and obviously the reverse was a totally different colour to the front.

Working in a poor area in retail, you got a lot of wrong'uns trying to pass off fakes. My favourite was a bloke who tried to hand me a single-sided black & white low detail paper photocopy of a £50 note buying some very cheap booze (less than £5 worth). Then insisted he'd “just got it from the bank” across the street. The bank which happened to be closed on the day in question.

Honesty, the forgeries from the tv show Bottom would probably look more realistic than what he was trying to pass off… (Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Af86I5Er_Mc ) Warning: Some mild crude humour.

Might have to dig out what forgeries I've had over the years, see what's what.

You can find a very complete list here of not just £1 fakes: The Fake Pound Coin Database

I've a handful of counterfeit British India Silver Rupee coins that I've added to the Exonumia Counterfeit section - 

N#356323 

I'd bought these from a Jewller over 25-30 yrs ago, taking them to be real ones but eventually they turned to have no silver

and another that I haven't as yet added to the Catalog - counterfeit of 50 Rupees International Year of the Child 1979

N#39099 

i wasn't aware about the 50 Rupees coin being a counterfeit, 2 of these came to me from a distant relative who gave up collecting & even he wasn't aware of the fact; i gave 1 in swap; the gentleman who received the swap had it checked & found it has no silver, as compared to the original Silver (.500) & I've been accused of sending a fake; very unfortunate incident; hence, i intend to add it to the catalaog so that collectors become aware of such counterfeits being circulated 

I’ve got a few fakes in my black museum. Some are excellent but most are terrible 

peterjhalford

You can find a very complete list here of not just £1 fakes: The Fake Pound Coin Database

Thanks Peter, I have seen that website before but it was quite some time ago. There have been a lot of additions since then. It is hard to believe that fairly common 50p coins are counterfieted. The Chinese will copy anything lol.

How strange. I am selling the actual 1997 coin at the moment. It's the Gateshead Bridge.