According to the European Central Bank, gold has overtaken the euro to become the second largest global reserve asset after the US dollar. The ECB’s most recent annual report on the international role of the euro notes that central bank gold demand remained at record highs in 2024, accounting for more than 20% of global demand – in contrast to around one-tenth on average in the 2010s.

As CMN went to press, the US Treasury officially confirmed the end of penny production, following the Trump administration’s order to cease minting the coins earlier this year. The Department will stop issuing new pennies into circulation by early next year, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Spain is reportedly the latest country considering cash rounding, after a proposal has been tabled to eliminate the one and two cent coins. The news closely follows the German National Cash Forum’s cash rounding advocacy last month, which asked the country’s Federal Ministry of Finance to ‘advocate for...a binding statutory rounding rule in Germany’.

Reconnaissance International, co-publisher of Coin & Mint News™, has launched DataVault™, the industry’s first dedicated, searchable online database for coins and banknotes – designed specifically for currency professionals who need fast, reliable, and up-to-date information.

The Central Bank of Solomon Islands has issued a new $1 coin into circulation featuring a new effigy on the obverse. The updated version retains the same dimensions as the previous issue, in addition to the Nguzu Nguzu motif on its reverse, but replaces the effigy of the late Queen Elizabeth II with that of King Charles III designed by Dan Thorne.

Two years after Croatia officially adopted the euro as its currency, around 4.3 billion kuna remains unexchanged. This includes 3.1 billion in banknotes and 1.2 billion in coins.

The Bank of Zambia has announced the introduction of a new family of the Zambian currency. The new family of banknotes and coins will consist of six coins and six banknotes, and is scheduled for launch on 31 March 2025.

Estonia has officially introduced new rounding rules as of 1 January, with the country also planning to cease minting 1 and 2 cent coins.

The United States Mint has unveiled the designs for the fourth and final year of the American Women Quarters Program, with the 2025 coins set to honour Ida B. Wells, Juliette Gordon Low, Dr Vera Rubin, Stacey Park Milbern, and Althea Gibson.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and Banque de France signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on currency management and other areas of central banking at the Philippine Embassy in Washington DC last month.