The Treasury and the Royal Mint have advised that after midnight on the 15 October the ‘Round Pound’ Coin will no longer be legal tender. This means that from that date, machines should not accept or give out as change old £1 coins as those coins will have been demonetised.
This includes:
- Vending Machines
- Car Parking Machines
- Train Ticket Machines
- Gaming Machines
- Hygiene Machines
The Treasury advises it is up to each individual company to assess when this needs to be done. It estimates that by the end of July there will be more new coins in circulation than old ones, dependent on the public returning to banks all the coins stored in savings jars as there are an estimated 300 million pounds collected as savings. The AVA (Automatic vending Association) has advised that the process of turning off the round coins will need to be planned in along with operators’ normal day to day activities. “We recommend you start this process (e.g. training your operators) around 3 – 4 weeks before 15 October. You will also need to contact your bank to find out how you return to them any round coins that you get after the 15 October either at the branch or through your cash in transit contractors.”
