A SPALDING man has been charged after thousands of suspected fake £1 coins were found in Staffordshire.
Marcus Glindon (41), along with a 43-year-old from the West Midlands and 53-year-old from Shropshire, appeared in court in Telford on Saturday on charges of conspiracy to make counterfeit coins and having custody of a machine, implement or materials for forgery.
They were arrested on Thursday after officers from Staffordshire Police and the Counterfeiting Unit of the Serious and Organised Crime Agency swooped on a unit on Heathmill Industrial Estate in Wombourne, Staffordshire.
Officers discovered several thousand stamped and finished £1 coins and about 50,000 blank coins.
Suspected coin pressing and other machinery on a large scale was also found.
Following the arrests, further searches were made of addresses in Spalding, Bridgnorth and Tipton.
Det Ch Insp Alan Edwards, head of CID in Shropshire, said the warrant followed extensive intelligence work and added: “The suspected counterfeit coins found are very high quality and would be extremely difficult to tell apart from a genuine £1 coin.”
The three men were remanded in custody until next Monday.