A charity worker claims to have found a forgery of the UK’s new £1 coin, described by the Royal Mint as the world’s “most secure”, reports The Independent.

The new currency has been in circulation for less than a month.   

The 12-sided coin incorporates new security features, which include a hologram-like image that changes from a £ symbol to the number one when the coin is seen from different angles.

The potential forgery was described as heavier, with the Queen's head more to the left, the edges more rounded, without a hologram and with no detail on the head of the thistle.

The worker believes his partner was given the fake £1 coin in change when shopping at a store in Surrey.

This is the first time the coin has been changed in over 30 years, with the £1 coin’s website saying that, at present, one in every 30 of the old coin is a forgery.