Treasury Minister Alfred Cannan was challenged in Tynwald on whether he was sitting on a stack of round Manx £1 coins - after he confirmed there were no plans to emulate the 12-sided UK version.

The UK took its round pound coins out of circulation last year, replacing them with the 12-sided coin. But the round Manx £1 coin remains valid in the island.

Mr Cannan told Tynwald on Tuesday that there were no plans to take up the offer from the UK Treasury for the Isle of Man to design and mint its own version of the 12-sided £1 coin.

Speaker Juan Watterson wanted to know whether the real reason was something the minister was keeping closely hidden.

’Is the minister sitting on a large stockpile of round £1 coins at the moment?’ he asked, before adding: ’Is the reason for not moving ahead about the logistical difficulties of moving from the round pound to the 12-sided pound on-island?’

Mr Cannan studiously avoided any comment on his seating arrangements, before adding he was not aware of any logistical difficulties with the new coin,

’The transition from round pound to 12-sided coins, as far as the UK coins are concerned, has been handled extremely well and efficiently,’ he said.

’I have been in regular contact with the Isle of Man Bank over the coin-sorting process and my understanding and feedback is that it has gone incredibly smoothly.’

The issue was raised initially by Jason Moorhouse (Arbory, Castletown and Malew), who pointed out one of the reasons behind the new UK coin was it was harder to counterfeit than the round pound.

Mr Cannan said the Isle of Man Bank had not encountered any fake round £1 coins since the transition in the UK, but the Treasury would continue to monitor the situation.