The National Bank of Belgium is encouraging citizens to flush out their low denomination coins and exchange them as quickly as possible, due to shortages of the 5 and 10 cents in particular.

Consumer demand for ethically sourced and sustainable products has grown in recent years, partly as a result of a greater awareness of the impact of manufacturing upon producers but also due to increased scrutiny over the environmental impact of metals mining.

Bulgaria has signed a memorandum of understanding with the European Commission and the Eurozone group president, paving the way for the country to start minting its own euro coins once it receives approval for eurozone membership.

IMIA President Gerhard Starsich and Managing Director Martina Horakova spoke to CMN about the foundation of the new association, the role of coins in the cash cycle and how the IMIA plans to make the case for their importance, and indeed that of cash overall.

Last month, we reviewed the Coin Conference held in Amsterdam in October. Alongside the main programme was a seminar dedicated to sustainability.

A group of organisations from both the coin and banknote sectors have joined forces to support a first-of-its-kind in-depth study into the environmental impact of cash versus digital payments.

In last month’s issue of Coin & Mint News, we covered five of the presentations made at the World Technical Forum 2022. In this issue, we cover the five presentations made in the second half of the Technical Forum.

The three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are all issuing commemorative coins in support of and to help raise funds for Ukraine.

It is customary in Coin & Mint News™ sister publications – Currency News™ and Cash & Payment News™ – to round off the year with a review of the key trends and developments over the preceding 12 months.

As it prepares for the euro changeover next month, the Croatian Mint has created a new world’s smallest coin featuring the world’s smallest city, Hum, with a face value of 1 kuna.

Swissmint has announced the launch of a new alloy for its silver coins alongside the rebranding of all new collector coins under the title and brand ‘Eidgenössische Sondermünzen’ (Swiss special coins).

Coiniverse, the mobile app platform developed by the Mint of Finland and now adopted by several mints around the world in association with the collector community, has announced the addition of its newest member mint, Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato (IPZS) – the Italian Mint.

According to the recently published Royal Australian Mint annual report for 2021/22, the circulating coin, collectible and investment business lines achieved revenue of A$182 million and a surplus of A$23 million after tax, which resulted in a 33% RONA.

The winners of the IACA Excellence in Currency Awards for Coin 2022 were announced and presented at a special ceremony on 18 October, during the Coin Conference in Amsterdam.

The Royal Mint announced a 27.3% increase in sales to £1.4 billion and pre-tax profit of £18 million for the year ending 31 March 2022, an increase of 45% over the previous year, largely due to higher precious metals sales in the UK, US and Europe.

The Royal Mint has launched a special collectable £2 coin to celebrate twenty-five years of the bi-metallic £2 coin. The £2 became the largest circulating coin denomination in the UK following minting in 1997 and introduction the year after, and the new collectible features the original ‘Technology’ design by artist Bruce Rushin.

The significant disruption of the coin supply chain in the United States as a result of the pandemic is well- documented. What is less well- documented, or even understood, is why these shortages have persisted even as economic and consumer activity have returned.

The 2022 Coin Conference, which took place in Amsterdam from 17-19 October, attracted 160 delegates from 45 countries and 92 organisations, including central banks, mints, academia, and industry suppliers.

The US Mint is currently shipping the next two coins in its American Women Quarters (AWQ) Program. The third and fourth circulating coins in the series feature Wilma Mankiller and Nina Otero-Warren respectively.

There has been much talk in the cash industry over the past few weeks, following the death of HM Queen Elizabeth II, about what this means for the countries whose currency – notably coins here – bear her portrait.

The Royal Mint (TRM) presented on sustainability at the Mint Directors Conference Online this summer.

Welcome to the inaugural issue of Coin & Mint News™ from the publishers of Currency News™ and Cash & Payment News™, and the only news source dedicated specifically to circulating coins, the minting industry and the numismatic community.

Singapore-based DBS, the largest bank in Southeast Asia, was one of four winners of the inaugural CashTech Innovation awards, presented at the Future of Cash Conference in Madrid in September.

The Korean mint and printer KOMSCO has announced that its high-relief Tiger silver medal and Cheonsang Yeolcha Bunyajido medal have been selected as Good Design Products.

The Mint of Finland recently presented at the High Security Print™ conference in Tallinn on sustainability and its Corporate Social Responsibility activities.

As with the World Money Fair Technical Forum in 2021, the 18th event held earlier this year was also held virtually. This month we cover five of those presentations, with the second half to follow next month.

The Coin Conference takes place in Amsterdam, 17-19 October 2022. Since the last Coin Conference was in 2019, it is not surprising that the agenda is busy and full of substance, reflecting all that has happened in the last three years.

The winners of the IACA Excellence in Currency Coin Awards for 2022 will be announced and presented at a special ceremony on 18 October, during the Coin Conference in Amsterdam.

It is coming up to ten years since Canada removed its 1 cent coin, or penny, from circulation. A recent survey by Research Co found that 71% of the public do not miss the Canadian penny.

The Egyptian Cabinet has approved a proposal to conclude a partnership agreement between the Public Treasury, the Egyptian Mint Authority, and the UK’s Royal Mint to establish a British-Egyptian mint in the Suez Canal economic zone.

SICPA has recently extended its operations into the gold market with the launch of BullionProtect®, which is now being used by Indonesian bullion producer Hartadinata to provide more confidence in gold bar trading.

In August, the MDC (Mint Directors Conference) announced the formation of a new professional association – the International Mint Directors Association (IMDA).

The Egyptian Cabinet has approved a proposal to conclude a partnership agreement between the Public Treasury, the Egyptian Mint Authority, and the UK’s Royal Mint to establish a new British-Egyptian mint.

Introducing automated coin deposit machines is the latest initiative from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to promote the re-circulation of coins and persuade Filipinos to use them in their daily transactions.

Four speakers focused on the future of cash at the recent Mint Directors Conference online forum. Two academics used their research to explain how, and why people pay as they do and then two speakers questioned future payments and how they might evolve.

India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has launched a special series of coins to mark the country’s 75th anniversary of independence, at a special ceremony organised by the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Currency Affairs.

After a three year gap, the Coin Conference returns this October to Amsterdam, in what will be the sixth edition of the event, and the only one of its kind to focus on coins as part of cash strategies in circulation from the perspective of currency issuers.

2021 was a great year for the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM), despite the ongoing effects of the pandemic, with record sales, profits, and a healthy $78.9 returned to the Canadian government, compared with $20 million the previous year.

The Mint Directors Conference is normally held every two years, providing an opportunity for discussions, information-sharing and debate within and about the industry.

The UK’s Royal Mint has announced plans to build a new plant in Llantrisant, South Wales, to recover gold from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE).

Australia’s lower denomination coins will end up costing more to make than their face value, according to a report by the research outfit Morningstar, thanks to soaring metal prices.

After several years of losses, the Mint of Finland has reported a significant increase in sales and return to profit for 2021. Consolidated revenue increased by 45% to €83 million, due largely to a good order backlog at the beginning the year.

The use of surface relief holograms to create striking visual effects on coins is not necessarily a new technology, but one that is a challenge for circulating coins because of durability.

Circulation coins may be facing something of a decline, but the collectors (numismatics) market is booming. A couple of years ago, the market was valued at approximately $17.6 billion annually.

The Colombian Mint (Fábrica de Moneda) has received an award from the Colombian government for technical innovation, in recognition of the development of a new technique that enabled the continuing production of the country’s two highest denomination coins, despite the breakdown of a key piece of machinery just before the pandemic struck that prevented it being repaired.

The United States Mint has launched its American Women Quarters™ Program. In a four-year period from 2022 to 2025, the Mint will honour the works and accomplishments of 20 American women by placing their images on new 25 cent coins.

The Official Journal of the European Union has published details of the national side of coins issued by members states in 2021.

Optimism towards the end of last year that the pandemic was running its course, and that things would start returning to normal, have been thwarted by the emergency of the Omicron variant of COVID, and uncertainty continues around in-person events in 2022.

Gräbener Pressensysteme celebrated its 100th year in business last October. The specialist knuckle joint and coin minting press company, based in Netphen-Werthenbach, Germany was entered in the local commercial register in Siegen, Germany in October 1921.

2022 is a year in which the jubilees of two of the world’s longest reigning monarchs are being celebrated.

The Peoples Bank of China has issued 12 commemorative coins for the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, which take place 4-20 February.

Currency News™, publishers of Coin & Mint News™ Quarterly, is undertaking a survey of the coin community as part of its development of an-depth report on the circulating coin industry, covering recent developments and trends, current status and future prospects.