How it is made

Money was minted in several places all over England until the 13th century when all the mints were based in London and Cantebury. In 1279 the London Mint had been set up in the Tower of London. This was to make it a safe place to stop people trying to steal the money. Gradually machines were invented to help make the coins more identical. This helps to stop people making their own coins.

In 1811 the Mint moved out of the Tower to a specially built factory nearby at Tower Hill. This building was changed over the years until in 1967 it was decided to build a new factory. This was placed in Llantrisant, South Wales. The Royal Mint is now housed in a purpose built factory and continues to make money for this country as well as others.

Other mints use what is known as a mintmark. The Royal Mint is one of only a few mints that does not use a mintmark for British coins. However, one was used on the new one pound coin that was issued in 1983. It is shaped like a cross - see if you can find one.

One of the biggest jobs the Royal Mint has is to make sure that no one can make copies of the coins and notes that they make. Many criminals have tried to do this, so they have to check all the time that the way they make the coins and money is as fool-proof as possible.

Life up a £5 or £10 note and look at it in the light. You will see a special line down the note, as well as a picture (Watermark) that you can't see if the light is not shining through the note. These are some of the ways of making sure criminals don't find it easy to copy the notes. People who work in banks are trained to spot counterfeit notes. This is why old notes have to be taken out of circulation, and especially notes that have been through the washing machine - they can look like forgeries!

The Nazi's in World War 2 tried to help themselves win the war by making £135 million pound notes. They printed these in the concentration camps and wanted to send them into Britain so that the economy would be damaged. If you have lots of forged notes then people keep the good notes and money goes down in value. They did use the money - but for other things!

Nowadays people are trying to produce forged notes on the computer. Much of this money looks like the real thing. That is why shop keepers always hold up large notes to the light - they are checking to make sure it is a real note. The Royal Mint uses special paper for making notes.

With coins it is harder to make copies - but you can find foreign money mixed up with British coins. Some foreign coins are the same shape and colour as ours, but not worth as much. Often they feel lighter. Banks can tell whether money is real or not by its weight.

But there will always be people who try and make their own money, and the Royal Mint will always have to think of new ways of stopping this happening. If money becomes digital then there is a whole new way of forging money.

Banks already have to make credit cards as secure as possible with chip and pin systems.

The Royal Mint has a good reputation throughout the world, which is why many countries get their coins and notes made there. The machinery in the factory is specially designed to make coins and notes of high quality and some people who work there spend their days checking all the coins or notes to make sure they are good enough.