Of course if you're sophisticated enough, or have the right connections, any security scheme is breakable. It's probably been introduced because the salesman from the company that produces coins pushed it as the solution to widespread counterfeiting of £1 coins. At present people make really rudimentary fakes from things like painted lead, which they pass off as real.
For those who produce the additive and detection machines of course, this will be a bonanza - I wonder whether the ink company also sells detection mechanisms? It'll be interesting to see how many vendor machines simply move to using cards instead in response - why bother buying a new detection mechanism when you could just stop accepting coins? I can imagine London Underground doing this in a few years for example.
At present machines and people go on form and weight, if the bank can add a certain response to UV or radio to that, it might make it significantly more difficult to copy the coins. I imagine the response of forgers to this will be to develop a UV coating to be screened on to coins which will fool machines (which are going to be pretty basic), rather than trying to mimic the material itself. Many machines will never use the much trumpeted benefits of this system, because it'd be too expensive, they'll probably just go on shape and weight as usual.
These clunky coins are going to be extinct in a few decades anyway though - governments already issue more of their currency in electronic form than physical coin, and I suspect most people will happily use the internet and cards for everything and drop cash and cheques. At that point physical currency will be withdrawn, because it is such a burden to produce and police, I'm not even sure if you need a replacement token which can be shuffled around like bitcoin, or if everyone will be happy using verified transactions and ledgers as they do at present with banks. So the mint will eventually be out of business except in selling commemorative coins.
For those who produce the additive and detection machines of course, this will be a bonanza - I wonder whether the ink company also sells detection mechanisms? It'll be interesting to see how many vendor machines simply move to using cards instead in response - why bother buying a new detection mechanism when you could just stop accepting coins? I can imagine London Underground doing this in a few years for example.
At present machines and people go on form and weight, if the bank can add a certain response to UV or radio to that, it might make it significantly more difficult to copy the coins. I imagine the response of forgers to this will be to develop a UV coating to be screened on to coins which will fool machines (which are going to be pretty basic), rather than trying to mimic the material itself. Many machines will never use the much trumpeted benefits of this system, because it'd be too expensive, they'll probably just go on shape and weight as usual.
These clunky coins are going to be extinct in a few decades anyway though - governments already issue more of their currency in electronic form than physical coin, and I suspect most people will happily use the internet and cards for everything and drop cash and cheques. At that point physical currency will be withdrawn, because it is such a burden to produce and police, I'm not even sure if you need a replacement token which can be shuffled around like bitcoin, or if everyone will be happy using verified transactions and ledgers as they do at present with banks. So the mint will eventually be out of business except in selling commemorative coins.