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 (GD) Products, under a scheme hosted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy of Korea and held every year since 1985 to recognise outstanding design.
The high-relief Tiger silver medal issued to mark the 2022 Year of the Black Tiger expresses the intense energy of a roaring tiger through a three-dimensional effect that could not be portrayed in previous medals.
The Cheonsang Yeolcha Bunyajido medal was produced in collaboration with Golden Dew, a diamond crafting company to commemorate Science Day in Korea. It includes eight diamonds to represent the seven Big Dippers and the North Star, which were inserted to enhance sparkle and three-dimensional effects.
The Cheonsang Yeolcha Bunyajido is a model astronomical chart from the Joseon Dynasty with illustrations of the constellations.
Its name denotes a picture (do) of the twelve astronomical fields (bunya) of heavenly phenomena (cheonsang). Joseon was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting over 500 years (1392-1910).
For the remainder of the year, KOMSCO is planning to launch a variety of new products, including the 2023 Year of the Rabbit gold medal, the Intangible Cultural Heritage commemorative medal, and Cultural Heritage Returned to Korea commemorative medal.
The UK’s Metro Bank has raised over £15,000 for children’s cancer charity Kidscan, through its ‘Magic Money Machines’ and partnership with transaction management group Pivotal.
As a free coin counting service provided in-branch, the machines were unable to accept foreign currency, rejecting any coins that were not sterling. With the support of partner Pivotal, Metro Bank was able to exchange the coins to sterling which could then be donated to charity.
Managing director Ian Walters noted that ‘who knew that small change could make such a big difference. Without the magic money machines, these coins would be gathering dust in the nation’s sock drawers – instead thanks to the generosity of our customers, we are helping to fight the war against cancer and make children’s lives more bearable.’
Slovakia becomes the latest country to restrict the circulation of the two lowest denomination coins, the 1 and 2 euro cents, by introducing rounding rules. A new law was passed last year, and the measure took effect this summer.
The coins remain legal tender, however, and recipients of payments will still have to accept transactions made with the coins. The rounding rules do not apply to card payments.
Slovakia is following the example of Finland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland and Italy. Estonia is reported to be considering the same measure, and is consulting groups of stakeholders as to how such rules could work.
Later this year, a report is expected from the European Commission regarding the future of the coins throughout the eurozone in terms of whether to introduce rounding rules throughout the 19 member states, or even abolish them altogether. In all euro countries a majority of the population is in favour of abolishing the smallest coins.
South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has recently commented about options for the country’s denominational structure, following ‘fake news’ that it is planning to introduce a new high denomination R 500 note and R 10 coin.
The highest denomination is the R 200 but there is no pressure to introduce a higher value note given that the R100, rather than the R200, is the most used note, said SARB.
However, a SARB study has concluded that there is an economic case to issue an R 10 coin, but that the public is not keen on the idea. The current highest denomination coin is the R 5. Public perception, along with the buying power of the rand and general inflation trends, is an important factor in the decision for change.
In 2021, South African Mint delivered 800 million coins, returning a net profit of R 777 million, compared with R 672 million the previous year.
Goetz-Ulf Jungmichel has been named the new Managing Director of World Money Fair Holding. An experienced trade fair expert with a degree in business administration, he has previously worked with Reed Exhibitions Deutschland and Messe Dusseldorf, and takes over from Albert Beck, the founder of the World Money Fair. He will support Barbara Balz, Managing Director for the World Money Fair itself, for the next event, which takes place 3-5 February 2023 in Berlin.
‘With Mr Jungmichel, we have succeeded in gaining a modern- thinking trade fair expert, said Gerhard Starsich, CEO of the Austrian Mint, on behalf of the World Money Fair Holding shareholders. ‘The process of modernisation and further development of our fair, we see in him good hands’.
The World Money Fair, which is normally held annually at the start of the year, was forced to go online during the pandemic. It returned to an in-person event this August. It is considered the key annual event for coin collectors, dealers, producers and the supply industry, and in normal times attracts more than 300 exhibitors, including 60 state mints and national banks, and 15,000 visitors. In addition to the Austrian Mint, other shareholders include Samlerhuset, Künker and the Verband des deutschen Münzenfachhandels.
The Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) has announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2022. According to CEO Marie Lemay, it ‘continues to demonstrate resilience and stability by generating strong results in the midst of challenging market conditions.’
Compared to the first six months of 2021, which yielded singular results, revenues were 12% lower at C$841.9 million, while profit before income tax and other items fell by 10.7% to C$14.5 million, due largely to lower gold bullion volumes and planned higher operating expenses.
The numismatics division saw an increase of sales of nearly 30% compared with the first half of 2021. Circulating coin business was up a more modest 0.4%, but by 14% quarter-over-quarter from coin production to replenish Canadian circulation inventory levels held on behalf of the Department of Finance as well as an increase in ARP (Alloy Recovery Program) metric tons processed during the period. Foreign coin business fell by 11% quarter-over-quarter.
According to the RCM, it expects COVID-19 and emerging variants, inflation, as well as other external events around the globe, to continue to impact its performance in 2022.
