Woah
Up to £30 million in old pound coins might be lost unless drivers do a search of their cars before October 15, according to the AA.
The old “round pound” will stop being legal tender after October 15 but many drivers keep a stock of them in their cars primarily to pay for parking or supermarket trolleys. The AA has already highlighted that various parking machines have still not been converted to take the new 12-sided coins.
The AA is advising drivers to do at one last sweep of their cars checking the glove box, ash tray, side door shelves and even on, under and between the seats. The old pounds can be spent until 15 October or taken to banks (some will only accept bags of 20) or deposited into savings accounts.
Edmund King, AA president, said: “We estimate that most cars will have some loose change lurking in hidden places. The pound coin tends to be the most popular coin for use on parking meters, pay & display machines and supermarket trolleys. If each car had just one hidden pound coin there could be as much as £30 million in cash which will no longer be legal tender after next Sunday. The old pound coin will soon be devalued more than Harold Wilson’s 1967 ‘pound in your pocket’ and part of the problem is that the pound coin often slips out of the pocket and between the car seats.
“Drivers might wish to donate their spare change to charities or cash in on those car essentials such as screen wash. After the piggy bank, the car is probably the most likely place to find old pounds.”
It is still estimated there are some 500 million old coins still in circulation.
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