Minting Of New £1 Coin

[DeeCee1950]

Can anyone explain when the milled edge of the £1 coin is added. Is it before, after or at the same time as the front and back is struck?

The reason for asking is that I've been saving these coins when I got any in my change since they were first introduced in 2016. I had saved £1,100 before paying them in. Taking the top of the thistle as a reference point, following the top of it over to the edge, it is in line with a milled part. However, out of 1100 coins on 30 of them the thistle is in line with a smooth edge.

Now if the edge was produced before or after the front and back was struck then I would have thought that there would be a 50/50 chance of the thistle being in line with a smooth or milled edge. Likewise if it was produced at the same time then every coin would be the same.

So the question is why were only 30 out of 1100 coins show the thistle in line with a smooth part of the edge.

 

Dave

[Peckris 2]

https://www.fleur-de-coin.com/articles/coin-striking

It's done at the same time. I would therefore infer that the collar on one particular die pairing was incorrectly aligned and has caused nearly 3% of the mintage (if your sample is accurate) to have that particular pointing.

[craigy]

didnt someone do a rather in depth study and we came to the conclusion they were not errors just tolerances in the mass production varying 

 

[DeeCee1950]

Thanks for the replies, seems a logical reason. Just checked the dates and 29 are dated 2016 and from 2017.

 

[Peckris 2]

On 4 June 2019 at 2:41 PM, craigy said:

didnt someone do a rather in depth study and we came to the conclusion they were not errors just tolerances in the mass production varying 

 

That would lead me to expect a 50/50 (ish) outcome - 3% is not random!

[Chris Perkins]

The variety is often called a 'leftie' as the milled section when you look under the hologram with the Queen' side facing you is usually to the right of the hologram. On lefties it's obviously on the left and there are actually some where the point is slightly milled (like a middly :S). It is certainly not a 50/50 thing like with the writing orientation on £2 coins and is no doubt due to the collar/dies not being fitted 'properly' although I think the RM have stated that there is no wrong or right way, so it's just an interesting variant.

Here's my page which has more info:

https://www.checkyourchange.co.uk/the-six-new-1-coin-varieties/

They seem fairly common for 2016 and less so for later years.