From Monday October 16, old pound coins are officially out of circulation.

Shops will not accept them, you can get ‘kicked off a bus’, it’s illegal to put them in a vending machine and they won’t even fit in supermarket trolleys anymore.

But obviously, if you’re anything like us, you still have loads of them stuffed away gathering dust in random backpack pockets and piggy banks.


Thankfully, there are places you can spend them and all that ‘saving’ (or: totally forgetting they existed) will not have been for nothing.

Here’s where they will still be accepted…

Poundland

Get yourself some M&Ms (Picture: Getty)

You can spend old pounds in Poundland until the end of October.



‘We are the official home of the pound, so it’s a no brainer that we offer all Brits the opportunity to spend their hard earned round pounds for longer,’ managing director Barry Williams said.

Not sure who made that ‘official’ designation, but cool.

Iceland

Iceland is also accepting them (Picture: Getty)

Another upmarket establishment with ‘land’ in the name, Iceland still wants your old, rejected pounds.

They will also accept them until the end of October, so it may be the ideal time to stock up on frozen pizza.

Charities

Let’s say you want to use this opportunity to do something good for the world, rather than go to the hassle of changing them at the bank for the price of a coffee.

Lots of charities are urging people to donate their old pounds and some have even launched special campaigns.

The countdown this afternoon

BBC Children in Need want people to give as many as possible to their Round Pound Countdown before their big appeal day on November 17.

Epilepsy Action asks people to ‘give your last pound to fight epilepsy’.

Poverty Child will send out freepost envelopes for people to post their pounds.

Wildlife charity Born Free is asking people to donate their pounds after they ‘go extinct’.

The Rainbow Trust are also asking people for their ‘good old pounds’.

Take it to the bank

You can change them for new pound coins at most banks and building societies, including NatWest, Santander, Barclays, Halifax and HSBC.

Some branches may only offer the service to people who have an account with them.

If you have any trouble swapping the pounds, you will still be able to deposit them in your bank account at the counter.

Aldi

You’ve got until the end of October to fill your boots in Aldi.

May we suggest buying the £10 London Dry Gin, recognised as one of the best in the world.

Aren’t you glad you kept those old pounds now (Picture: Aldi)

Tesco

While some other shops opted to give people until the end of the month, Tesco is offering an extra week.

Better than nothing, or – as the supermarket would say – every little helps.

You’ve got until October 22.

Post office

It’s not just for letters (Picture: Getty)

You can also take old pound coins to the post office after the deadline and deposit them in any bank until further notice.

Unfortunately you can’t swap them for shiny new ones.



Martin Kearsley, Banking Services Director at the Post Office said: ‘We would like to reassure anyone who is unclear on what to do with their old £1 coins that the Post Office is here for you. Thanks to an agreement with all UK high street banks, everyone can deposit old pound coins into their usual high street bank account at their local Post Office branch.’

The Post Office have also teamed up with Children in Need, so if you want you can also donate your old pounds at there as well.

Why have they got rid of my beloved round pounds? Chancellor George Osborne decided to get rid of them in 2014 because they were too easy to counterfeit. On March 28 this year the first ones came into circulation, and we’ve now reached the point where the old ones are phased out.