British expats told to spend old £1 coins before they are obsolete

The old British one pound coins will soon be obsolete (Reuters)

DUBAI: British expats are being warned to spend any old-fashioned round £1 coins they have before they become obsolete and lose their monetary value.
The coins are being replaced with a new unique shape and design that was introduced by the Royal Mint to help tackle counterfeiters.
The old coins will be made obsolete on Oct. 15 and shops in Britain will have the right to refuse them.
After the cutoff date only banks and Post Offices will accept the original coins.
The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, Andrew Jones said: “We are urging the public to spend, bank or donate their old pound coins and asking businesses who are yet to do so, to update their systems before the old coin ceases to be legal tender.”
The BBC had previously reported that one-in-40 of the old-style coins were believed to be fake.
The new design is claimed to be the “most secure coin in the world.”
The coins include a series of special security features including a hologram, micro-lettering inside both rims and material which can be detected when scanned by coin-counting or payment machines.