New 12-sided £1 coin goes on sale ahead of public release – but you can’t use it in shops

COLLECTORS who want to get their hands on the new 12-sided £1 coin before its general release can buy their own version from today.

The "fraud-proof" coins will be released into general circulation on March 28 but collectors can snap up a proof coin early.

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These coins, although legal tender, are not designed for general circulation, so won't be accepted by banks and shops.

The Royal Mint this morning announced that gold, silver and platinum £1 proof coins, plus uncirculated "mint condition" versions in non-precious metals have gone on sale today ahead of the tender's full roll-out at the end of the month.

Prices range from £10 for the uncirculated coin to a whopping £1,995 for the gold proof two-coin set.

The collectors' edition coins can be bought from the Royal Mint website.

David Pearce, 15, from Walsall beat off competition from more than 6,000 entries to design the face of the coin, which features the Welsh leek, the Scottish thistle, the Northern Irish shamrock and the English rose emerging from a royal coronet.

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The new pound coin has been introduced because the current £1 has become vulnerable to counterfeiters.

There are thought to be more than 30 million fake round pounds in circulation, equating to around 2.55 per cent of coins.

It’s illegal to use one and the Royal Mint asks people to hand in fake £1 coins immediately.

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The current £1 coin will cease to become legal tender on October 15, and Brits are being urged to use their pound coins or take them to the bank before the deadline comes into force.

But before you spend or exchange your pound coins, it's worth checking them to see if they could be valuable.

The Sun Online revealed last month the rarest and most valuable £1 coins in circulation – and how to find out if yours is worth more than a quid.

The rarest £1, known as the Edinburgh City 2011 £1 coin, is selling for as much as £34 on eBay.

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