A Closer Look at the IACA Award Finalists: Part 2

The recent Coin Conference™ played host to the International Association of Currency Affairs (IACA)'s 2026 Excellence in Currency Coin Awards. IACA introduced the awards to promote and recognise excellence in coin production, processing, management, distribution, and related activities of the coin community.

All finalists were awarded and the winner in each category announced during a special ceremony held on the Tuesday afternoon. This year's award winners were chosen from a shortlist of finalists, which were then reviewed and scored by the IACA Judging Committee. The winners in each category were as follows:

• Best New Circulating Commemorative Coin: Royal Australian Mint for its '80 Years On: Remembering the Second World War' $2 coloured circulating commemorative.
• Best New Coin Product, Process, or Manufacturing Innovation: Monnaie de Paris for the process developed to produce the new tri-metallic 500 CFA franc for the BEAC (Bank of Central African States).
• Best New Coin Recirculation/Distribution Program or Initiative: UK Changebox Ltd for Changebox, its next-generation network of self-service cash and coin exchange kiosks for coin recirculation.