The reportedly forged example of a new £1 coin is in fact the result of a production glitch, the Royal Mint has admitted, after studying images of the coin. Coin specialists now speculate that far from being a worthless fake, such coins could have great value to collectors and fetch prices far above their face value.

The coin, found by a charity worker in Surrey, has visible differences to a regular £1 coin, including missing the high security hologram.

The Royal Mint, which initially declined to comment on reports of the find, now says it is "confident" the coin is not a counterfeit.

An independent coin expert who examined images of the coin for The Telegraph believes these differences are the result of "mis-aligned printing" - the result of a malfunction in the striking process.