The Royal Mint has made an equity investment in Canadian cleantech company Excir, its partner for precious metals recovery.

Gold has been viewed as a safe-haven asset for centuries, a role that is unlikely to change anytime soon. By its very nature, the precious metal asset holds store of value and is a hedge against volatility as a so-called safe and stable investment, in addition to providing protection against inflation. The current weakening of the US dollar only reinforces this.

Uganda has become the latest African nation to look to gold as support for its currency, as the Bank of Uganda initiates a Domestic Gold Purchase Program with the objectives of building the country’s foreign reserves and minimising risks on reserves investments.

Belgian businesses and shopkeepers will soon be obliged to accept cash payments following the Federal Government’s approval of legislation around cash acceptance. This follows a rise in the number of establishments that do not accept cash and subsequent complaints about the issue.

The Paris 2024 Organising Committee has unveiled the medals for the upcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Monnaie de Paris has been charged with production of the medals, exactly a century after the previous Parisian Games in 1924.

Royal Joh Enschedé, in collaboration with The Global Note™, has released a gold embellished commemorative banknote in honour of footballer Dennis Bergkamp, which includes an augmented reality (AR) experience provided via mobile app

Arcelor Mittal have launched their XCarb® programme ‘towards neutral steel’, as in carbon neutral steel. Steel is widely used the production of coins.

By its very nature, bullion is a valuable and more expensive commodity than standard commemorative coins comprised of nickel, copper or zinc, for example. This can lead to greater scrutiny of the items produced and their provenance.

Leondaro Abdias, Director of Innovation and Market at the Brazilian mint, Casa da Moeda do Brasil, announced measures to combat illegal gold trade in Brazil during an event held in May titled ‘Ways of Gold: the Importance of Traceability to Prevent Illegality and Irregular Extraction’.

Back in December, Coin & Mint News posed the question ‘how important is ethical sourcing?’, highlighting a few organisations that are considering the sourcing of their metals and looking at ways to make the process more transparent and sustainable.