Circulation of £1 coins (FOI)

​Request

Could the treasury please clarify the following information.

A

Confirm that the Jersey treasury is responsible for the management and distribution of currency within the Island.

B

How many Jersey £1 coins are in circulation prior to the withdrawal date of 15th October 2017?

C

How many UK £1 coins are estimated to be in circulation in the Island?

D

How many £1 coins (UK and Jersey) coins are anticipated / or actually to be returned to each treasury (Jersey and U.K.) after they become no longer legal tender (15 October 2017)?

E

How many new UK coins have been imported into Jersey from the U.K. treasury to replenish the stock of withdrawn £1 coinage?

F

Has there been any reasoning for not importing enough £1s to replace the withdrawn, or any communications to the banks to replace Jersey / UK coinage with Jersey paper £1 notes?

G

The banks certainly have reported a major shortage of new £1 coins to replace existing as at the withdrawal date and state the previous comments as being a major reason for lack of importation of new £1s.

Response

A

The Currency Notes (Jersey) Law 1959 and Decimal Currency (Jersey) Law 1971 (links below) authorise the issue and recall of currency notes and coins:

Currency Notes (Jersey) Law 1959  

Decimal Currency (Jersey) Law 1971

B

Since inception of the Jersey £1 coin approximately one million coins have been issued. Except for under 1,000 received since the October deadline, none have been withdrawn from circulation by the States of Jersey Treasury.

The number of Jersey coins which remain in circulation is expected to be far lower than this number, reflecting coins lost or destroyed by individuals. In the last 10 years, under 10,000 Jersey coins have been issued.

C

We have no record of the number of UK £1 coins on the Island. Banks and individuals freely transport currency to and from the Island as there are no currency controls restricting flow of Sterling between Jersey and the UK.

D

Please contact the Bank of England for details of UK £1 coin repatriation.

As a limited stock of Jersey £1 coins were issued into circulation, limited stock is expected to be returned.

As of 25 October 2017, less than 1,000 coins have been returned to the States of Jersey Treasury.

E

UK coins may be ordered directly from the UK by local banks therefore we do not hold this information.

The States of Jersey Treasury has no legal power to issue Sterling.

F

All local banks have been in correspondence with the States of Jersey Treasury well in advance of the withdrawal of the Jersey £1 coin.

The States of Jersey Treasury has no power to issue UK coins and arrangements with regards to replacement of UK stocks are a matter for local banks.

G

The States of Jersey Treasury hold no records of the number of UK coins ordered by local banks who are responsible for managing the currency requirements of their customers.