NEW £1 COIN PROMPTS VENDING MACHINE UPDATES

British businesses are trying to square (or to be precise, polygon) a circle as they get ready for the new pound coin.

The shiny 12-sided piece will start circulating in March, gradually replacing the existing round coins.

The old pound will be phased out by next fall because its design makes it vulnerable to counterfeiting. The Royal Mint said more than 2.5% of all £1 coins currently in circulation -- approximately 1 in 40 -- are fake.

The new pound is being hailed by the Royal Mint as the most secure coin in the world. It even boasts a hidden high-security feature that will protect it against counterfeiting, the mint said.

But it is also causing some businesses a headache. Because of its shape, and because its different metal composition gives it a different weight, it will not fit most existing vending machines, lockers and shopping carts.

They will have to be updated, and that will not come cheap. The Automatic Vending Association estimates it will cost the industry £32 million to make sure the 500,000 vending machines across the U.K. are ready to accept the new coin.

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More than 500,000 vending machines need update (www.texomashomepage.com/news/britains-new-pound-coin-wont-fit-into-vending-machines)

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