Tesco and Aldi joins list of retailers defying £1 cut off date
Published: 13 October 2017 - Kiran Grewal
The discount supermarket chain Aldi is to accept the old £1 coins in its UK stores for two weeks after the cut off date where they stop circulation. Round £1 coins have been in circulation since 1983, but will no longer be accepted from 16 October.
The UK’s largest retailer, Tesco, also said earlier this week that it would allow its shoppers to pay with the old pound coins at tills and self-service machines for an extra week.
It follows a similar announcement by the discount retailer Poundland, which will accept the old round pound coins until 31 October.
The new 12-sided £1 coin, which resembles the old threepenny bit, entered circulation in March and has new high-tech security features to stop counterfeiters.
The production of the new coins followed concerns about round pounds being vulnerable to sophisticated counterfeiters. About one in 30 old-style pound coins in people’s change has been fake in recent years.
