Great Western Coffee Shop

South West Trains and Great Western Railway

"... working to ensure all ticket vending machines across our estate will be able to accept the new £1 before the present coin ceases to be legal tender."

Correct. Also, only 6 months left on valudity for old coin, so do you change again in October to prevent use of old coin?

I think we need to agree a tad of slack is needed as ling as changeover is during the next 6 months. You will be lucky to get the new coin in first week or so anyway as it'll take a few weeks for the new coin to exceed the old one in circulation

TransWilts ticket machine at Melksham is credit / debit card only ... Swindon, Chippenham, Trowbridge and Westbury have staffed ticket offices. So users of the Swindon to Westbury service are not likely to be amongst the "millions" facing "chaos". If you're unable to buy your ticket before boarding because the station facilities aren't available to take your payment, please buy your ticket from the train manager / conductor.

TransWilts trains run 9 times a day Monday to Friday between Swindon and Westbury - slightly less at the weekend. Off peak day return on direct trains - £7.40; £10.30 at peak (that's the earlier trains on Monday to Friday) all the way from Swindon to Westbury. Who said trains were expensive??

Good point.

Grahame - are you seriously suggesting that they change the machines every time a coin or note either comes into use or no longer is legal tender?

In this case, that'll be 6 changes (& a further two when the current £20 is replaced) in about 2 years. Sensible use of our fares money?

TransWilts ticket machine at Melksham is credit / debit card only ... Swindon, Chippenham, Trowbridge and Westbury have staffed ticket offices. So users of the Swindon to Westbury service are not likely to be amongst the "millions" facing "chaos". If you're unable to buy your ticket before boarding because the station facilities aren't available to take your payment, please buy your ticket from the train ,manager / conductor.

TransWilts trains run 9 times a day Monday to Friday between Swindon and Westbury - slightly less at the weekend. Off peak day return on direct trains - £7.40; £10.30 at peak (that's the earlier. trains on Monday to Friday) all the ay from Swindon to Westbury. Who said trains were expensive??

Good point.

Grahame - are you seriously suggesting that they change the machines every time a coin or note either comes into use or no longer is legal tender?

Such costs should be part of the contract the TOCs have with their TVM suppliers/maintainers.

Cost me £30.

Now if I can do it.....

Max take on contactless is £30

That's not an issue, as a lot of local peak journeys are well below that figure, so would speed up the majority of transactions.

Swindon to Didcot Return - two adjacent stations does not come in under £30 even when you buy two singles!

 

Surely all machines are fully computer controlled and it is just a software update needed to accept old/new pound coins?

If so, why can this not be done quickly?

coin acceptance is mechanical - how could it be software? You are physically putting coins in a physical slot.

I didn't know that, thanks.

However, as chip & pin can process all amounts, why the need for contactless? Coping with a very busy train would only save less tyhan a minute per transaction. And there aren't that many trains to make it worthwhile

The majority of old £1 coins will be removed from mass circulation quite quickly.

The significant changes between the old and new £1 coin (which incorporates many new security features) mean all Coin payment systems will require either recalibration or possibly replacement dependent on the age of product. Coin Solutions has worked closely with many manufactures and has also tested the Sample £1 coins and the Production coins at the Royal Mint to ensure all our upgrades are going to work correctly on 1st March 2017.

Most current generation systems will be upgradable in the field with hand held programmers that Coin Solutions can supply (and credits if required)

Older equipment may require returning to us for recalibration , some products will become obsolete or more cost effective to replace. Whatever your market and payment equipment Coin Solutions are there to help provide a smooth transition from old to new £1 acceptance.

We have New £5 upgrade solutions available now and others to be released over the summer to facilitate the smooth changeover from paper to polymer note acceptance. Many current models are field upgradable with hand help programming devices or SIM replacement. Older models may require returning to Coin Solutions or no longer be supported for the Polymer note security features.

New £5 and £10 notes and £1 coins

As we are sure you will know already, the Bank of England have recently introduced new £5 polymer notes, and new £1 coins and £10 polymer notes will also be released in March and September.

All of our ticket machines should be able to accept these by October 2017. But, in the meantime, please continue to use the older notes and coins if you have them. You can also buy tickets through our website, mobile app or any staffed ticket office.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

The car parking machines at liskeard are accepting the new coins. So they've been done by whoever is responsible

I've been told that it is only a software update for the new £1 coin, although I hesitate to believe that comment.

Royal Mint admits faulty £1 coins are in circulation

Some new £1 coins - introduced into circulation last month as the "most secure coin in the world" - may be defective, the Royal Mint has admitted.

It said that a "small number of coins" were affected when they were struck at a rapid rate during production.

The Royal Mint is striking 1.5 billion new 12-sided £1 coins, introduced to help crack down on counterfeiting.

Out of shape versions of the coin, considered collectors' items, are appearing on internet auction sites.

The Sun newspaper has spoken to a number of people reporting warped coins, although doubts have been raised about the cause of reported highly-damaged coins.

A spokeswoman for the Royal Mint, which produces three million new £1 coins a day at its headquarters in Llantrisant, South Wales, said: "The Royal Mint produces around five billion coins each year, and will be striking 1.5 billion new £1 coins in total. As you would expect, we have tight quality controls in place, however variances will always occur in a small number of coins, particularly in the striking process, due to the high volumes and speed of production."

The Mint has claimed the new £1 is the "most secure coin in the world", replacing the previous £1 coin, of which about one in 40 are thought to be fake.

Philip Munsell, director of Coin News magazine, told the BBC that only a tiny minority of these new coins would be affected, but that fact made them highly collectable. "The thing about the Royal Mint is that they are very, very good with their quality control, so therefore if you have something that has passed through without being quality checked then it is likely to be collectable, it is likely to therefore be worth more than one pound," he said.

He said that if the middle of the two-piece £1 coin was missing, it would not get through the quality checks.

The new coin has a string of anti-counterfeiting details, including material inside the coin itself which can be detected when electronically scanned by coin-counting or payment machines.

Other security measures include an image that works like a hologram, and micro-sized lettering inside both rims.

However, it is not the first currency launch to have hit problems in recent months.

Vegans and some religious groups have voiced concerns about the new polymer £5 note introduced in September last year, as it contains a small amount of tallow, which is derived from meat products.

Meanwhile, the old £1 coin remains as legal tender until 15 October this year, after which shops are under no obligation to accept it.

The new £1 coin: Vital statistics

Thickness: 2.8mm - thinner than old coin

Weight: 8.75g - lighter than old coin

Diameter: 23.43mm - larger than old coin

Number to enter circulation: 1.5 billion - about 23 per person. Old £1 coins will be melted down to make new ones

Outer ring: gold-coloured, made from nickel-brass

Inner ring: silver-coloured, made from nickel-plated alloy

The car parking machines at liskeard are accepting the new coins. So they've been done by whoever is responsible

Old £ coins are still valid for at least a fortnight (or is it 3 weeks?) , so I doubt it was inadvertant...maybe once we're inside the last week of validity.

... intending to get rid of two old pound coins (given to me a few days ago in Waitrose, no doubt inadvertently).

Self service tills seem to be the biggest offenders. They just recycle what other customers have put in.