De La Rue shares plunge 30% - It has begun.

[Mr Mystery]

[url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-29373938]As the title[/url]

Clearly this is due to them annoying their market by changing the size of the ten pee piece all those years ago, and a two pound coin inspiring the name of yet another woefully crap Oasis album.

See - started a thread this time. That means it's funny.

[Wolfshade]

Yeah but de la rue have like a licence to print money.

[Mr Mystery]

Personally it's all their fault the pirate market and that for dodgy £10 notes. A De La Rue £10 note costs me a whopping £10. One from 'Bermondsey Dave'? That costs a mere £5. They deserve to be undercut.

[Wolfshade]

I used to get loads of fake £1 coins from my local tesco, it was frustating

[Mr Mystery]

Yup.

Especially the bad fakes - the ones you can spot a mile off. Whereas good fakes? Well, whole point is that you don't spot them.

[Wolfshade]

It did mean every time I got £1s as change I would inspect them and get them to replace the ones I thought were fake.

Most of the fakes failed the "alignment" test and edge lettering.

1. The date and design on the reverse should match. It is changed each year and you can see a list of dates and designs [URL="http://www.royalmint.com/discover/uk-coins/coin-design-and-specifications/one-pound-coin"]here[/URL]

2. Poor or missing lettering on the edge of the coin

3. The edge of the coin is uneven in depth

4. A coin which has been in circulation for some time but still looks shiny and golden and shows no sign of age

5. The colour does not match genuine coins

6. The Queen's head or reverse design look indistinct

7. Alignment - hold the coin with the Queen's head upright. Turn it over. The design on the other side should also be upright - fakes are often skewed