This year has seen much change that has impacted world of coins, and yet much remains the same. Here, Coin & Mint News summarises the year in headlines.

Danmarks Nationalbank has begun issuing Denmark's new coins featuring the effigy or monogram of the current reigning monarch, King Frederik X. Research and development of the new coins began in January 2024, following the abdication of his mother Queen Margrethe II and the King’s subsequent accession to the throne.

Over the years, mints around the world have marked Remembrance Day with specially designed commemorative coins, honouring the lives and sacrifices of those who served. These coins tell a story not only of conflict and remembrance, but of the evolving ways we choose to commemorate history. Here, we cover a few recent commemorative issues.

During the year that the Royal Australian Mint (RAM) celebrated its 60th anniversary, it issued over 131 million circulating coins with a face-value of A$75.37 million, nearly three times the 47.7 million coins issued the previous year.

The United States has reached a turning point in its monetary history. After 232 years of continuous production, the penny (or one cent coin) has finally ceased to roll off the presses for circulation. The US Mint hosted a ceremonial strike event at its Philadelphia facility in mid-November, with United States Treasurer Brandon Beach striking the final circulating penny coin.

The Royal Mint has launched its 2026 Sovereign Collection, offering more advanced security features and a return to the classic yellow gold colouring.

In an era when physical cash is increasingly challenged by digital payments and the demand for circulating coins is shrinking in many countries, mints around the world are being compelled to rethink their business models. The decline in the traditional coinage business has resulted in many mints diversifying and finding new sources of revenue and roles beyond sheer volume production of circulating coins.

The Central Bank of Luxembourg has unveiled the designs of the country’s updated euro coins which feature HRH Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume on their national side. The new coins bearing the effigy of Grand Duke Guillaume – who acceded to the throne on 3 October – will enter circulation at the beginning of 2026.

Earlier this month, Carveco unveiled its new suite of AI-powered tools, designed to make creative manufacturing faster, more accessible, and more intuitive. It contains two new tools aimed to assist designers when creating 3D designs – Text to Relief and Image to Relief.

During the World’s Fair of Money, MKS PAMP Group announced the return of the Engelhard brand to the market with a new generation of faithfully recreated precious metals products. The United States Mint also unveiled a new release in line with the event, its first laser-engraved coin.

The Coin of the Year (COTY) Awards have been held every year since 1984, with a panel of judges nominating ten coins in each of the ten award categories. The winners of the most recent edition of the annual COTY Awards were announced at the 2025 World’s Fair of Money®, held in Oklahoma City mid-August.

The RCM has recently reported that it remains on track to achieve the goal of a carbon-neutral Circulation Business – including the Winnipeg facility – by 2030, with its Decarbonization Roadmap in place to improve the way that the Mint operates both of its facilities. Work is underway to achieve a carbon net-zero operation by 2050.

Updating the effigy featured on circulating coinage is common when a change of monarch occurs, such as in the case of the death of the late Queen Elizabeth II and ascension of King Charles III to the throne, or the abdication of Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II to pass the title on to her son, King Frederik X. This is also the case with the Vatican – the smallest sovereign state in the world located within Rome.

Monnaie de Paris has announced that its Board of Directors has unanimously approved the launch of a new bullion project, with the metal-investment offer providing both French and international collectors with the ability to acquire coins sold for their weight in fine gold.

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.

The Central Bank of Costa Rica, as part of its mandate to keep businesses and the public informed, published the schedule for the entry and exit of coins to and from circulation for the year on in February. The new colón coin series shows different designs that allows each denomination to be readily identified and distinguished from the old series by the public.

The Royal Mint has unveiled a ground-breaking addition to its bullion portfolio with the launch of the new secure Britannia bullion bar. Security features previously exclusive to its world-renowned coins have been rolled out into its gold bar range for the first time.

The National Bank of Kazakhstan has launched a new digital coin, backed by unallocated and certified physical gold. Those interested can purchase, and then sell, the digital gold coin via a mobile application called ‘Tabys’. Investors are also able to gift coins to another investor using the app.

The latest figures from Eesti Pank on cash issuance detailed a fall in the number of coins issued in the first quarter of 2025. Approximately 1.5 million coins with a total value of €1.6 million were issued, with the most common being the €2 coin – which comprised half of the total number of coins issued into circulation.

The World Money Fair is the world’s largest coin fair. This year’s event, held 30 January to 1 February, attracted more numismatics enthusiasts than ever before – with over 13,600 attendees and more than 300 exhibitors from 50 countries present. WMF Director, Goetz-Ulf-Jungmichel, commented that the event ‘shows that our industry is not only preserving history, but actively shaping the future’.