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British Shops Refuse to Give up on Old Pound

The old pound coin will be expired and withdrawn from circulation on October 15/ IMAGE: GETTY - CONTRIBUTOR
The old pound coin will be expired and withdrawn from circulation on October 15/ IMAGE: GETTY - CONTRIBUTOR
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British Shops Refuse to Give up on Old Pound

The old pound coin will be expired and withdrawn from circulation on October 15/ IMAGE: GETTY - CONTRIBUTOR
The old pound coin will be expired and withdrawn from circulation on October 15/ IMAGE: GETTY - CONTRIBUTOR

Thousands of shops are likely to ignore the Royal Mint’s deadline of Sunday to stop accepting old £1 coins.

A trade organization representing 170,000 businesses has advised its members to continue taking the coins, because the changeover period with the new coins has been so short.

From midnight on Sunday 15 October, the coins will lose their legal tender status. After this date, shops and restaurants should no longer accept them. According to the Guardian, with a week to go, about 500 million coins are still in circulation.

Poundland (the British version of one dollar shops) said more than 850 of its UK stores would continue accepting the coins until October 31.

According to AFP, the new coin has 12 sides, and is not disk-shaped like the old one. The ministry said it has security features to thwart criminals, noting that one in every 30 £1 coins in the market has been fake.

The current pound has accompanied the British consumers in their daily lives for more than 30 years, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement.

The new coin is thinner, slightly lighter, and a little bit larger than the newly approved one.

One of the new pound’s faces still feature the photo of Queen Elizabeth II, while the other face features the symbols of England (Rose), Scotland (thorns), Wales (Balls) and Northern Ireland (clover) emerging from the royal crown.

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Labubu Toy Sculpture Sold for $150,000 at China Auction

A human-sized Labubu figurine is displayed before an auction in Beijing, China June 6, 2025. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang
A human-sized Labubu figurine is displayed before an auction in Beijing, China June 6, 2025. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang
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Labubu Toy Sculpture Sold for $150,000 at China Auction

A human-sized Labubu figurine is displayed before an auction in Beijing, China June 6, 2025. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang
A human-sized Labubu figurine is displayed before an auction in Beijing, China June 6, 2025. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang

A Beijing auction house has sold a four-foot-tall sculpture of a viral plush toy character for more than $150,000, as global demand for the Chinese-designed Labubu dolls reaches fever pitch.

The rabbit-like figures sporting mischievous grins began as a character created by Hong Kong-born artist Kasing Lung, and are made by Beijing-based toy brand Pop Mart.

They have been endorsed by celebrities such as Rihanna and Dua Lipa, and fans have queued overnight outside stores hoping to snag one, with analysts pointing to the phenomenon as evidence of China's growing soft power, AFP reported.

On Tuesday, a teal sculpture depicting a Labubu character with a furry body and head fetched an eye-watering 1.08 million yuan ($150,260) at an auction held in Beijing, according to the auction house's app.

The sculpture is "the only piece of its kind in the world", according to Yongle International Auction.

It was offered alongside other Labubu paraphernalia including a brown statue that sold for 820,000 yuan.

Pop Mart has over 400 stores globally, including 30 US branches.

The worldwide frenzy has seen people go to desperate lengths to acquire their own Labubu.

Last month a London branch of Pop Mart suspended in-store sales of the toys, fearing violence from would-be buyers who failed to get their hands on the limited-edition Labubus.

In Singapore, CCTV footage captured a family stealing Labubu dolls from a claw machine, according to Singaporean online media outlet AsiaOne.

Burglars broke into a store in California last week and took several Labubu dolls along with electronics and other valuables, American news outlet ABC reported.

In China, the toys have been promised as freebies for new bank customers -- an incentive quickly shut down by local regulators, according to Chinese media reports.

The toys have spawned a booming resale market as well as an online community of fans sharing tips on how to customize their dolls.

Knockoffs -- many of which are also made in China -- have flooded online platforms, dubbed "Lafufus" by social media users.