The 32nd Mint Directors Conference (MDC) was held last week in Cape Town, South Africa. The event hosts the MDC Coin Awards, sponsored by MingFeng Packaging, which this year took place last night during the MDC Gala Dinner at Cape Point Vineyards.

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 Bank of Zambia has begun issuing new families of both banknotes and coins. The currency showcases Zambia’s rich heritage, with its unique flora and fauna as the central theme; hence it is called the ‘Heritage Series’.

The Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten began issuing a new family of banknotes and coins on 31 March. This is not just a redesign and upgrade for the coins and notes but a completely new currency, with the Caribbean guilder replacing the Netherlands Antilles guilder.

Reconnaissance, co-publisher of Coin & Mint News™, launched a new website – cashsustainability.com – on 22 April (World Mother Earth Day) as a cash community asset to capture and consolidate initiatives, work and research from every part of the cash cycle, and provide tools to support organisations on their pathway to a greener future.

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.

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’.

The Bank of Central African States (BEAC) has released a new family of circulating coins for member countries of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC). This includes Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of Congo.

President João Lourenço of Angola has officially opened the National Bank of Angola’s new high-tech cash centre – Casa do Kwanza – in the capital, Luanda for the storage, processing and distribution of the country’s currency, the kwanza. The cash centre has been four years in the making, at a budgeted cost of approximately Kz 33 billion ($36 million).

Researchers from the UK’s National Health Service have identified a possible unexpected benefit of the rise in contactless payments: fewer children are turning up at hospitals after swallowing coins or sticking them up their noses.

The Mint Directors Association (MDA) held a webinar last month titled ‘Change For Coins: How to Harness the Passion of a New Generation of Collectors’, which focused on collectibles and leveraging product launches to grow brand loyalty and optimise commercial opportunities.

Coin & Mint News™ continues its ‘Remarkable New Issues’ segment, in partnership with CoinsWeekly, by highlighting three new collectible issues with dynamic designs – and in the case of Austria, a colourful centrepiece.

Last year was an eventful year for the Monnaie de Paris. Coin & Mint News™ spoke to the CEO of Monnaie de Paris, Marc Schwartz, at the recent World Money Fair in Berlin to discuss the Mint’s busy but successful year and its plans for 2025.

As 8 March marked International Women’s Day, it seemed apt this month to take a look at some recent programmes that pay tribute to several notable women.

The 32nd Mint Directors Conference is scheduled to take place from 27-29 April in Cape Town, South Africa. The event, co-hosted by the South African Mint Company, aims to explore the fusion of traditional minting practices with modern technological advancements.

Coin & Mint News™ continues our ‘Remarkable New Issues’ segment, in partnership with CoinsWeekly, by highlighting three new collectible issues that celebrate a national icon or animal – and in the case of Canada, both.

Euro coin counterfeiting figures from the European Commission report a growing number removed from circulation in recent years, and a sharp rise in 2023 in particular (the latest year it has reported on). The number came to 480,317 – up 62% compared to 2022 and the highest level by far since the introduction of the euro in 2002.

Germany’s National Cash Forum is now advocating rounding to the nearest five euro cents for cash payments, asking the Federal Ministry of Finance to follow suit and ‘advocate for, and press ahead with, a binding statutory rounding rule in Germany’.

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.