Old round pound coins will cease to be legal tender in the UK next week, although some shops will still be accepting them after the deadline.
From midnight on Sunday 15 October, the round pound will lose its legal tender status, meaning stores cannot hand out old pound coins as change and can refuse to accept them as payment.
People have been urged to rummage through their wallets, coat pockets, piggy banks and sofas so that they can spend them, bank them or give them to charity before this date.
However, discount retailer Poundland has said more than 850 of its stores across the country will continue accepting the coins until 31 October.
And a trade association representing small shops has advised its members to continue accepting the round coins to provide a "useful community service" to customers.
A spokesman for the Federation of Small Businesses told the Telegraph newspaper: "Shopkeepers will be aware that the Royal Mint has this deadline but at the same time they will not want to let their loyal customers down by saying they cannot pay with a round pound if they do not have any other change.
"It would help if small firms knew they were allowed a short transition period to collect the old coins if they wish to and are willing to bank them, but not give out to customers.
"This would provide a useful community service, allowing customers a few weeks to get rid of the final few pound coins in circulation."
Major banks have said that while they encourage customers to allow enough time to hand in their old coins, they will continue to accept deposits of round pounds from their customers after 15 October.
People may also find they can still hand in the old £1 coins at the Post Office after this date.
With just a week to go, around 500 million old round pounds are still in circulation.
The new 12-sided pound coin, which resembles the old threepenny bit, entered circulation in March and boasts new high-tech security features to thwart counterfeiters.
The production of the new coins follows concerns about round pounds being vulnerable to sophisticated counterfeiters.
Around one in every 30 old-style pound coins in people's change in recent years has been fake.
One pound coins were first launched on 21 April 1983 to replace £1 notes. The Royal Mint has produced more than two billion round pound coins since that time.
