Why do £1 coins have 12 sides? The Royal Mint reveals the security reason behind the unique shape

They're something you look at without second guessing - but have you ever truly wondered why £1 coins have 12 sides?

£1 coins are 12-sided to make them more difficult to counterfeit, The Royal Mint has revealed.

When the coin was remade in 2017 with its new shape, it has a number of features that made it "much more difficult to counterfeit" the Mint explained and is hailed as the "most secure coin in the world".

The 12 sides make it much harder to remake and copy compared to the previous smooth circle shape and also the newer coins use two different metals (bimetallic) the Mint explained: "The outer ring is gold coloured (nickel-brass) and the inner ring is silver coloured (nickel-plated alloy)."

Not only this, the coin has alternate grooves on either side, as well as "very small lettering on the lower inside rim on both sides of the coin" which highlight the date of issue and the value saying "ONE POUND" and "an image like a hologram that changes from a '£' symbol to the number '1' when the coin is seen from different angles.

The more intricate the design, the harder it is to make a fake copy of, and this newer coin is also lighter than the old one.

There is a "high-security feature built into the coin to protect it from counterfeiting in the future", The Royal Mint added.

It is also designed in a way to make it easily recognisable by touch when reaching in your pocket to find a quid quickly.

The design on the coin features symbols that represent different parts of the UK. It includes the English rose, the Welsh leek, the Scottish thistle and the Northern Irish shamrock emerging from one stem within a royal coronet. This was created by David Pearce who won a public design competition at the age of 15.

As coins honouring King Charles reign start to be circulated across the UK, people have been inspecting their currency much closer than ever before. Due to this, many Brits are only just noticing the 'secret' image the UK coins create when a 1p, 5p, 10p, 20p, and 50p are all arranged together.

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