Man jailed over 14m fake £1 coins

Glindon was caught after an anonymous tip-off alerted police

A counterfeiter who produced fake £1 coins with an estimated total value of £14m, has been jailed for five years.

Marcus Glindon, 37, from Enfield, north London, made the coins over seven years from a workshop near his home.

When officers raided his home and nearby business, MG Engineering, in March they found machines used to manufacture coins and counterfeit dies.

Glindon admitted five counts relating to counterfeiting the coins at Wood Green Crown Court.

Glindon was caught after an anonymous tip-off alerted police. He was arrested and charged two days later.

He said that he worked mainly alone, producing coins for two men.

We have disrupted a nationwide criminal network and put a substantial dent into the illegal production of £1 coins Det Con Dan Roberts

Of the estimated 14 million coins, 2.5 million were completed while the remainder were left blank, due to be finished off.

It is thought that at one stage he was making 10,000 to 12,000 coins per day and was paid about £2,000 in cash a week by the two men.

The Royal Mint said it would be extremely difficult for members of the public to differentiate between legitimate coins and the fake ones Glindon had produced.

Metropolitan Police Det Con Dan Roberts said: "As a result of a collaboration between the police, the Royal Mint and the counterfeit agency at the Serious Organised Crime Agency, we have disrupted a nationwide criminal network and put a substantial dent into the illegal production of £1 coins."