New 12-sided £1 coin unveiled

The new coin will resemble the old threepenny bit. Credit: The Royal Mint

The Government has announced it will introduce a 12-sided £1 pound coin, in the same shape as the old Threepenny bit.

The new coin has been described as a "giant leap into the future", and the Treasury say it will be "most secure coin in circulation in the world".

The new coin will replace the current one in 2017, after the Treasury announced that 3% of current £1 coins in circulation are fake.

ITV News Correspondent Dan Rivers reports:

The new coin will be roughly the same size as the existing one, but contains an array of technological advances that should make it difficult to forge. A Treasury spokesman said:

The old Threepenny Bit was the first coin to feature HRH Queen Elizabeth II. Credit: The Royal Mint

The Queen's effigy will be on the "heads" side, but the Treasury said there will be a public competition to decide the design for the "tails" side.

The new £1 coin will have the same shape as the old Threepenny bit, popular during World War Two. Credit: The Royal Mint

The old “Threepenny bit” was the first group of coins to feature the portrait of HRH Queen Elizabeth II.

It was the first British coin to use a 12-sided shape which enhanced its popularity during the Second World War, as its distinctive size and shape made it the easiest coin to recognise during the blackout.