The print media last week were carrying stories about the circulation of forged £1 coins.

In the same time-frame it was quietly being made known that the Bank of England was on standby to print £50bilion of paper money.

This stunt is known as ‘quantitative easing’.

Setting aside the law against forgery, what is the essential difference between the two? There is no security behind either.

If it is accepted, the forged £1 coin is every bit as useful a measure of  ‘quantitative easing’ – if a much more modest one – as setting the presses of the Royal Mint to print  £50billion.