Britain’s coins go on trial every year before they end up in the nation’s wallets and cash registers. On Friday, as they’ve done since the Middle Ages, a panel of experts handed down their verdict after six weeks of checks.
The Trial of the Pyx is one of Britain’s oldest and strangest legal procedures. It’s a mixture of a court case, an industrial-quality check and a marketing exercise for the Royal Mint Ltd, the U.K.’s official coin maker.
After this year, the procedure, named after the Latin word for chest, will have a new object to scrutinize. In March, Osborne announced that Royal Mint Ltd. would create a new one-pound coin to help reduce counterfeiting. It will have twelve-sided angular shape, unlike the smooth outline of the current version, and will have special technological features that, the Royal Mint says, will make it the world’s most secure coin.
British Coins Pass Test in 800-Year-Old Ritual - Bloomberg
The Trial of the Pyx is one of Britain’s oldest and strangest legal procedures. It’s a mixture of a court case, an industrial-quality check and a marketing exercise for the Royal Mint Ltd, the U.K.’s official coin maker.
After this year, the procedure, named after the Latin word for chest, will have a new object to scrutinize. In March, Osborne announced that Royal Mint Ltd. would create a new one-pound coin to help reduce counterfeiting. It will have twelve-sided angular shape, unlike the smooth outline of the current version, and will have special technological features that, the Royal Mint says, will make it the world’s most secure coin.
British Coins Pass Test in 800-Year-Old Ritual - Bloomberg
