（每日一读）2014年3月高考英语考前突破 阅读理解能力 文化教育 新式1英镑硬币将于2017年投入使用VIP专享

新式 1 英镑硬币将于 2017 年投入使用A new £1 coin, designed to be the "most secure in the world", is set to be introduced in 2017.一种新式 1 英镑硬币，以“世界上最安全的硬币”为设计理念，将于 2017 年投入使用。The Royal Mint is introducing the new coin as it believes 3% of existing ￡1 coins are fake It comes amid concerns about the 30-year old coin's vulnerability to counterfeiting, with an estimated 45 million forgeries in circulation. The new coin is based on the design of the old 3d (three penny) piece, or threepenny bit, a 12-sided coin in circulation between 1937 and 1971. A competition will be held to decide the image on one side of the coin. The Royal Mint, which believes 3% of existing £1 coins are fake, said the move would increase "public confidence" in the UK's currency and reduce costs for banks and other businesses. 'Resilient £1 coin' The announcement comes as Chancellor George Osborne prepares to deliver his fifth Budget on Wednesday. He tweeted this picture of the £1 coin next to the Budget Box, captioned: "Today I will deliver a Budget for a resilient economy - starting with a resilient pound coin." The current £1 coin was introduced in 1983 as part of the phasing out of the one pound note, which was withdrawn five years later. Of the 1.5 billion coins estimated to be in circulation, as many as two million counterfeit ones are removed every year. The government said the existing coin had been in existence longer than most others and its technology was no longer suitable to combat increasingly sophisticated counterfeiting techniques. The proposed new coin will be roughly the same size as the current one and will be based on the three pence piece that disappeared after decimalisation in the early 1970s. The new coin will be made in two colours and will incorporate state-of-the-art technology to ensure it can be authenticated at all points. While the Queen's head will be on the obverse side of the coin, as it is on all legal tender in the UK, the Treasury has said there will be a public competition to decide the image on the other side.