Coin testing apparatus

A multidenomination coin testing apparatus for performing a diameter sensitive test on coins, said apparatus having a relatively high sensitivity to variations in coin diameter over a relatively large range of coin diameters, said apparatus comprising a coin passageway, a coin track along which coins pass on their edges and substantially in a predetermined plane through the coin passageway, and inductive coin examining means arranged to produce an oscillating magnetic field in the coin passageway and to respond to the interaction between a coin travelling in the passageway and the oscillating magnetic field, the coin examining means including an inductor adjacent the coin passageway connected in a coin acceptability testing circuit arranged to determine whether the interaction corresponds to the interaction for an acceptable coin, the inductor comprising a coil which is oblong, has the major axis of its oblong shape substantially parallel with said plane and transverse to the path of a coin along the track, is located alongside the passageway, and has the axis of the magnetic field directed through said plane, the inductor being arranged with the lower edge of its coil spaced above the coin track.