back to article April Fool decries Blighty's dodecaquid

There's absolutely no shame in being taken in by a nicely crafted April Fools' Day spoof, but one Reg reader will be spending the next year in the corner sporting the big pointy "D" hat after crying foul over Blighty's magnificent 12-sided pound coin. As we reported last Friday, the Royal Mint has started pumping out the retro …

  1. JimmyPage Silver badge
    Meh

    A tad (just a tad) harsh

    In 2016, the amount of quality journalism around being less than ever means it's impossible to apply critical thinking to every story and work out if it's an April Fools or not.

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

      1. Aggrajag

        Re: A tad (just a tad) harsh

        The date of the article is irrelevant, it was a true story.

        1. This post has been deleted by its author

      2. Pompous Git Silver badge
        Happy

        Re: A tad (just a tad) harsh

        Honestly, how hard is it to check the date of an article?

        Well, from The Git's POV nearly everything on this website is yesterday's news. Commenting at 12:45 on 5 April.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: A tad (just a tad) harsh

      I was sort of expecting that all those "news" about Continuous Lifecycle DevOps WhatEvs was just a very elaborate prank which would be revealed on April 1st.

      Bummer. It seems it is for real.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: A tad (just a tad) harsh

      I must admit, I checked out the Metro on April 1st and couldn't see any articles that didn't look like april fools jokes.

      1. PNGuinn
        Trollface

        Re: A tad (just a tad) harsh

        "I must admit, I checked out the Metro on April 1st" ...

        Why did you pick on April 1st? Shurley any day ....

    4. rh587

      Re: A tad (just a tad) harsh

      In 2016, the amount of quality journalism around being less than ever means it's impossible to apply critical thinking to every story and work out if it's an April Fools or not.

      Which would be an entirely relevant criticism had the article not contained relevant links to both the Royal Mint's press releases and Osborne's guff on gov.uk, as well as links to previous Reg stories on the matter, which demonstrate either that it's a real story, or those previous stories were long, pre-planned setups to a collaborative joke by the Royal Mint, George Osborne and El Reg.

      Now which sounds more likely?

      1. JimmyPage Silver badge
        Mushroom

        Re: links in article

        downvoted.

        1) I did say "a tad" - i.e. the criticism was justified, but mitigated.

        2) Not really sure any El Regger should be critical of people who don't immediately click links in every article they read - even if it is El Reg.

      2. PNGuinn
        Joke

        Re: A tad (just a tad) harsh

        OTOH ...

        "Osborne's guff"

        April Fool ... Any day of the year ...

    5. Sir Sham Cad

      Re: A tad (just a tad) harsh

      Being unable to work out if it was an April Fool's joke or not is fine and understandable despite the clues in the article itself.

      Creating a commentard account just to complain, twice, that the article is still up which obviously offended their sensibilities in some as yet unknown way because there was no way that their initial assessment of the piece could possibly be wrong = Ridicule Magnet.

  2. GrumpenKraut
    Angel

    Extra points for posting twice in a row as in a chat.

    A bit harsh, yes. Though I have to admit that a reacted way more impolite when somewhat did this on mailing lists in the past. Icon: not me.

  3. Jason Bloomberg Silver badge

    It is understandable that someone might suspect it was an April Fool article but that has to be set against others having already explained in the comments that it actually wasn't.

    Sanwin had no real excuse to be so uniformed in their opinion and thereby made themselves fair game for a ribbing.

    1. Chemist
      Joke

      "Sanwin had no real excuse to be so uniformed in their opinion and thereby made themselves fair game for a ribbing."

      Indeed if his opinion needs to wear a uniform then let the ribbing start

      1. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

        The road from uniformed to uninformed is a very, very short one. Sometimes it's the other way round, though.

      2. Jason Bloomberg Silver badge
        Joke

        "Sanwin had no real excuse to be so uniformed in their opinion and thereby made themselves fair game for a ribbing."

        Oops. Looks like I'm up for a bit of a rubbing.

        Damned keybeard.

      3. Stoneshop
        Coat

        Made of corduroy

        Indeed if his opinion needs to wear a uniform then let the ribbing start

        Obviously

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      " fair game for a ribbing."

      A ribbing from the commentards would indeed be expected. I'm not so sure that a whole article should have been written by el Reg holding them up to ridicule in front of all readers and commentards alike.

      Not exactly welcoming to a newbie is it?

      1. Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

        Re: " fair game for a ribbing."

        The welcome awaiting a newbie depends on the manner of his or her entrance. What do you expect here - a big hug and an invitation for a pint?

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: " fair game for a ribbing."

          Thanks, you can keep the hug but mines a pint of Tetley's and I don't mean tea.

          1. Bloakey1
            Happy

            Re: " fair game for a ribbing."

            "Thanks, you can keep the hug but mines a pint of Tetley's and I don't mean tea."

            Ahh but there is tea and there is T.E.A a wonderful amber nectar found down South none of your Northern muck.

            https://www.hogsback.co.uk/product/t-e-a/

        2. Paul Woodhouse

          Re: " fair game for a ribbing."

          I've never had an invite for a pint :(

          1. Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

            Re: Re: " fair game for a ribbing."

            Bless. Imagine if we had to invite everyone who wasn't a 12-sided muppet for a beer. The bar bill would be well over 50 quid, maybe even as high as £100.

            1. Paul Woodhouse

              Re: " fair game for a ribbing."

              Guessing thats London prices your talking there then :p...

              1. Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

                Re: Re: " fair game for a ribbing."

                Precisely.

        3. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

          Re: " fair game for a ribbing."

          "What do you expect here - a big hug and an invitation for a pint?"

          I'm fairly sure that was part of the terms and conditions I agreed to enter into when I signed up, wasn't it?

        4. Bloakey1

          Re: " fair game for a ribbing."

          "The welcome awaiting a newbie depends on the manner of his or her entrance. What do you expect here - a big hug and an invitation for a pint?"

          I must say that this sounds a bit anal, "the manner of his or her entrance" indeed.

          Yes, I will have a pint and it would be a pleasure to buy the next round. Ohhh, my lace needs tying perhaps the chap behind me will buy it.

        5. Pompous Git Silver badge

          Re: " fair game for a ribbing."

          What do you expect here - a big hug and an invitation for a pint?

          How about when you're no longer a newbie? Mind you, it's going to take more than a pint before I'm at all likely to hug you, Lester. No disrespect intended, but a bloke has to have certain standards ;-)

      2. dajames

        Re: " fair game for a ribbing."

        Not exactly welcoming to a newbie is it?

        Why do you think that "sanwin" is a newbie, rather than a nonce-id coined by a long-standing commentard for the purpose of making a meta-joke comment?

        It's a strange idea, though, removing an April Fool article just because April 1st has passed by. It's not like anyone has withdrawn RFC1149 in the last 26 years, is it?

    3. Someone_Somewhere

      Re: fair game for a ribbing

      And not for /his/ pleasure either!

      Still, could be worse - could be curry-flavoured*

      * apparently /they/ really /burn/

      1. Stoneshop
        Flame

        Re: fair game for a ribbing

        could be curry-flavoured*

        The correct sequence is to go for a pee first, then chop Madame Jeanettes.

  4. davidp231
    Facepalm

    Add to the fact there have been various news articles in the past few months alluding to the new £1 design.

  5. WonkoTheSane
    Trollface

    Didn't fool me!

    Luckily, I'd already seen the story on the BBC's "Ten things that look like April Fools, but aren't" page that day.

    1. PNGuinn
      Holmes

      Re: Didn't fool me!

      Frankly, knowing the the BBC these days I'd have almost been prepared to use that as absolute proof that the article WAS an April Fool.

  6. Little Mouse
    Coat

    Harsh indeed...

    I can hardly blame sanwin for being confused. That coin clearly has 14 sides....

    1. Whiskers

      Re: Harsh indeed...

      I see your back and front and raise you an inside and an outside to make 16 in all.

      1. Mike Moyle

        Re: Harsh indeed...

        I think that there's an upside and a downside to your argument.

      2. PNGuinn
        FAIL

        Re: Harsh indeed...

        Er ... if we're counting the insides shouldn't that be 28 sides?

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    "12-sided muppet"

    Yep, that one's going into the lexicon of thinly-disguised insults

    1. Dan 55 Silver badge
      Megaphone

      Re: "12-sided muppet"

      It's about as thinly-disguised as an obese Coco the Clown.

      1. Will Godfrey Silver badge
        Happy

        Re: "12-sided muppet"

        ... and as subtle as a house brick

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: "12-sided muppet"

          ... and as subtle as a house brick

          ... with "fuck off" written on it?

    2. Intractable Potsherd

      Re: "12-sided muppet"

      I know I'm a bit late, but surely "dodecamuppet" has some mileage?

  8. Number6

    You only need look at the BBC's article about ten things that might have been April Fools but weren't to realise that reality is rarely outdone by the comics.

    1st April is the only day of the year when people critically evaluate what they read on the internet. the rest of the year it's obviously all true.

    1. 404

      Every day is April Fool's Day on the internet... I thought this was already established.

      1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
        Happy

        "Every day is April Fool's Day on the internet"

        Has eternal September been ousted by eternal April?

    2. Mike Moyle

      The brilliance comes when someone can be skeptical because it's April Fools' Day and can STILL get it wrong!

      That's master work, right there.

    3. Someone_Somewhere

      > 1st April is the only day of the year when people critically evaluate what they read on the internet. the rest of the year it's obviously all true.

      With a little grammatical correction, that could become a 'meme'.

      Actually, now I come to think about it, it would only truly be an internet 'meme' with the grammatical error intact.

      As you were, therefore.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    If you open your mouth...

    ...at some point you will put your foot in it. If you have a particular knack for this it might be better to keep your foot in there so as not to say anything ever again. The alternative is to grow a thicker skin. If you chose the latter then there will be no end of helpful souls willing to aid you in acheiving this.

    1. Someone_Somewhere

      Re: If you open your mouth...

      Confucious say "A closed mouth gathers no feet."

      Also: an owl in a sack troubles no man.*

      * although I'm disinclined to put that one to the test myself. **

      ** hunting owls is exhausting!

  10. energystar
    Headmaster

    Those ones are a pain...

    To anything automated. And to your pants' bags, also. Don't repeat mistakes already made all around the world.

    1. Jimbo 6
      Black Helicopters

      Re: Those ones are a pain...

      It is a question that has vexed me for some time, why my trouser pockets fail a long, long time before the rest of the trousers. Over time I have refined two hypotheses to explain this phenomenon :

      1) Ongoing inflation, which has resulted in me continually carrying a weight of clanking coins that, three decades ago, would have been sufficient to finance an entire weekend of drinking and whoring.

      Or,

      2) A nefarious international tailors' conspiracy to create a Single Point of Failure in trousers, by ensuring that the *most* heavily-abraded section is constructed of the *least* robust material.

      The considered opinions of the commentard corps would be most welcome in assisting me with this conundrum.

      1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
        Happy

        Re: Those ones are a pain...

        Maybe it's because when your hand is your pocket you are holding it wrong. And too often. And maybe too violently.

        On the other hand, having a hole in your pocket might turn into an advantage in your case.

      2. Pookietoo

        Re: why my trouser pockets fail

        I tend to live in (proper, not "fashion") combat trousers, their pockets are many, capacious and robust.

  11. Dr Paul Taylor

    You'll be telling me next

    that you're never seen a thrup'ny bit!

  12. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

    I just hope

    that we haven't pushed an evil genius over the edge, prompting them to do a Lex Luthor...

  13. Stevie

    Bah!

    All that groundwork for a badge wasted. Now "sanwin" will have to be retired and the process begun anew.

    As for the coloring book article, well, it was so uninteresting I didn't even attempt to read it. If you are going to do an El Reg April Fool you have to do some serious hot-button pressing in the headline to pull in the punters:

    Apple Sue Fitbit in Wrist Tat Brickbat

    or SCO Win Landmark Decision In IBM Linux Lawsuit

    or Microsoft To Quietly Retire Windows 10: Replacement "Windows 20/20" O/S in Beta (Subtitle: New O/S To Feature native VR Integration via Windows RealWorld(tm) SDK).

    And have you considered that the Royal Mint is possibly setting the whole nation, nay the world up for the most awesome April Fool of 2017?

    1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

      Re: Bah!

      "And have you considered that the Royal Mint is possibly setting the whole nation, nay the world up for the most awesome April Fool of 2017?"

      If the queen doesn't make it till the 2017 launch date, the Mint may well look like fools. I wonder if when designing new coins they work on the basis that they may have to put Charles (or whichever name he choose to use when king) on instead of Liz.

      As others have done in the past, I think Charles should go with one of his middle names. King Arthur would be good.

      1. Uncle Slacky Silver badge

        Re: Bah!

        Apparently he's already stated that he's going with George (VII) because the previous Charles had a bit of a reputation.

        1. Stevie

          Re: Bah!

          "Apparently he's already stated that he's going with George (VII) because the previous Charles had a bit of a reputation."

          But couldn't that be said of everyone during the restoration? Even Edward Scissorhands died with a tin nose and a sore willy from all the rogering and poetry as I remember it.

          I don't agree with allowing monarchs to pick a name. It's not like they are the Pope (Henry VIII's shenanigans notwithstanding). Charles III could rebrand the Chaz marque for a new millennium. I mean, I'm sure Mary would have liked to pick something like "Melissa" so the schoolkids of the future wouldn't keep confusing her with the Queen of Scots woman, but she didn't.

          If he picks "George" He'll be just another in a long line. Besides, that would put him up against the beloved George VI when it comes to legacy building. An asymptotically steep problem curve, that.

          George VI stuck it out in London when the buzz-bombs were raining down and went Out Among The (Adoring) People afterwards, whereas George VII will start out as the bloke wot rejected Diana, mostest bestest popular princess ever so he could knock off his old girlfriend. With that millstone I reckon he'd be better stacking himself against a dissolute rake with a curly wig.

  14. Cari

    An update to the original article would have sufficed

    Confirming the story is actually real, for the benefit of the general public and all that.

    Instead of, you know, hauling the newbie out to be pecked apart by the vultures while you watch and stroke your ego.

    1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

      Re: An update to the original article would have sufficed

      You're right, of course. Vultures prefer their meat well matured, not still warm and bloody.

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Facepalm

    Not as bad...

    ... as the person who posted complaining about it looking like a foreign coin.

    1. Pompous Git Silver badge

      Re: Not as bad...

      ... as the person who posted complaining about it looking like a foreign coin.

      Er, it is a foreign coin in most countries of the world.

    2. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

      Re: Not as bad...

      It's a cunning plan by the mint. Over the next ten years or so they will gradually introduce conis that look more and more like Euro coins. Then...

  16. Someone_Somewhere

    It's discriminatory

    The 50p/20p piece is the shape it is so that the blind can identify it easily by touch alone.

    This will add to the cognitive load that the design of the 50p/20p was intended to reduce.

    It will also annoy the fu*ck out of me on principle.

  17. sanwin
    Happy

    A tad harsh Lester insofar as the comments were posted a day apart. The first on Saturday, and when it hadn't appeared by Sunday I repeated it.

    I still think the coin looks more like an April Fool than most of the 'jokes' around last Friday.

    1. Stoneshop
      Holmes

      Curing foot-in-mouth disease

      is not done by shooting your foot.

    2. Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

      Fair enough. Have a big hug and welcome to El Reg.

      1. Huw D

        You've gone soft...

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I thought I made a mistake once

    But it turned out I was wrong

  19. Mephistro
    Angel

    This might well be true...

    ... but could someone explain to me what's an opium poppy doing in the tails side? . TY!

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