Paper 1 pound notes would last a little over a year in circulation, whereas a 1 pound coin could last more than 30 years. At that time 1 pound in their currency was worth around $1.50 on exchange.

I suggest a 10 gram gold coin encased in plastic, which would be worth about $650, and actually is not far from the size of the original British gold sovereign (a one-pound coin).

You can now own a $1 gold coin celebrating one of America’s most revolutionary achievements: the NASA Space Shuttle program. The latest variant in the ongoing American Innovation $1 Coin series ...

Laith Khalaf, head of investment analysis at AJ Bell, comments: “Since the £1 coin was first introduced 40 years ago in 1983, it has lost more than two thirds of its value as a result of inflation.

The current pound has become vulnerable to sophisticated counterfeiters, the finance ministry said, with about 3 percent of all 1-pound coins, or 45 million, believed to be forgeries.

Britain plans to replace its 1-pound coin with a new version modelled on the country's historic threepenny piece, finance minister George Osborne will announce later on Wednesday.