Worth hundreds - 20p shortage?

Experts are worried that today will see a shortage in the general use of the 20p coin following a report broadcast by the BBC. Large numbers of bleary-eyed people were shocked to alertness this morning when BBC Breakfast asked if your 20p coin could be worth "hundreds". This was then followed by a mass outcry of "I don't care about the Jacksons tell me about how I might get money" as it switched to the same story everyone else have been covering.

A professor of Fiscal Studies at Stourport University stated "By teasing viewers without giving details large numbers of workers will attempt not to use a 20p coin until they've find out for themselves what this is all about. This could lead to a mass shortage and cause financial chaos as I predicted in my book 'What no 20's?'"

A spokesman from the Treasury attempted to calm such speculation with the reminder that the majority usage of the coin was by the unemployed and that they "all watch GMTV" and thus would not know anything about this.

[For those actually interested they gave a small amount of detail half-an-hour later, although I worked it out by rewinding and pausing on the shot of one of these 20p coins. Looks like the Mint have stamped some with the new shield design on one face and the old design for the Queen's head. As they had to move the year stamp to the Queen's side to accommodate the shield design this means they're undated.]