China Wins First COTY Award

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. This year the judges narrowed the long list of nearly 600 nominated coins down to 100 finalists, with a subsequent panel of international judges reviewing the nominees and selecting the category winners.

The winners of the most recent edition of the annual COTY Awards were announced at the 2026 World's Fair of Money®, held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania mid-August. This year marks the fourth year that the COTY ceremony has been held in conjunction with the conference organised by the American Numismatic Association.

In a tight race, the Shenzhen Guobao Mint (part of the China Banknote Printing and Minting Corporation) scooped the top prize of Coin of the Year with its 10 yuan silver 'Chinese Dragon' coin – which also won the Best Crown Coin category. Although the country has been the recipient of numerous COTY category nominations and wins previously, this is China's first Coin of the Year award.