The South African Reserve Bank has issued a new coin series, which is the fourth series since decimalisation in 1961 and the first coin redesign in 34 years.

Data and trends, managing circulation well, optimising specifications, and the role and value of coins were the key topics of the Currency Conference Coin workshop. Minting and circulating coins have challenges but a vibrant and bustling story was evident in all areas with much to discuss and debate.

To celebrate 50 years of the Van Gogh Museum, the Royal Dutch Mint produced 50 silver coins which feature glass enamel sunflowers. The sunflowers were handmade by the Mint’s silversmiths in-house and are, of course, based on the famous Sunflowers painting created by Vincent van Gogh in 1889.

A number of central banks have recently released their annual reports, which include the latest figures on coins in circulation. Below are a selection of these reports and the figures noted within.

Earlier this year, Royal United Mint acquired Osborne Coinage Co, which is based in Cincinnati, Ohio and is the oldest private mint in the US. Coin & Mint News™ caught up with Vincent Van Hecke, CEO of RUM and the Royal Dutch Mint, to find out more about the acquisition, his plans for the company and where he sees the market for coins, bullion and tokens going in the next 10 years.

The Royal Canadian Mint has published its results for 2022, stating that, whilst its financial performance was below 2021 levels, this was expected given the exceptional performance seen in 2021, and planned operational maintenance in 2022. The Mint still exceeded its financial goals for 2022, as set out in the Corporate Plan.

The Mint of Poland, which trades on the Warsaw Stock Exchange as the only publicly-listed mint, has three distinct business segments – mint products, electronic payments, and real estate development, representing 82.7%, 16.54%, and 0.76% of revenue in 2022, respectively.

In its annual report for 2022, INCM (Imprensa Nacional Casa da Moeda), described the year as a period of recovery, with a progressive increase in international business, despite the challenges posed by the conflict in Ukraine, the scarcity of raw materials and inflationary pressures.

On 6 April, the soon to be crowned King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla participated in a centuries old British ceremony that traditionally takes place on the Thursday before Easter Sunday, Maundy Thursday.

In the last two issues of Coin & Mint News™, we covered 10 of the presentations made in the first two sessions of the World Money Fair Technical Forum 2023. This month, we conclude the review with four presentations covering surface finishing and inspection, the recovery of e-waste, packaging and commemorative coins.

Nominations are now open for the MDC’s prestigious Coin Awards. Last held in 2018, the awards recognise industry achievements in the design, production and packaging of coins, as well as, for the first time, sustainability in minting.

The Mint of Finland has issued its 2022 Corporate Social Responsibility report. This article is a summary of that report, along with the presentation that the Mint made in the coin session at the recent Silk Road Conference in Kazakhstan.

In 2022, the US Mint continued to manufacture coins at near record levels, producing nearly 14 billion in the year.

The Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) produces coins for Canada, exports over 1 billion coins each year and provides technical support and materials to other mints. Sustainability (in its broadest sense) is a key part of the Mint’s operations and philosophy and it has recently issued its 2023 Environment Social and Governance (ESG) report.

Marie Lemay joined the Royal Canadian Mint as its CEO in 2019. With nearly four years now under her belt, half of which were during COVID, Coin & Mint News spoke to her about how coins are circulated in Canada, design and the importance of numismatics, sustainability and plans for the next Mint Directors Conference, which the RCM is hosting this October in Ottawa.

The Croatian National Bank and Croatian Mint have jointly issued two new numismatic euro pieces – the first of their type since the country officially adopted the euro as its currency on 1 January 2023.

The Turkish State Mint has reduced the size of the lira coins to offset rising minting costs, according to local reports.

At the start of January, Latvia’s central bank, Latvijas Banka, relocated the Cashier’s Offices to the same site as its cash processing centre and, at the same time, improved the coin change service that it offers.

For the 17th year in a row, the cost of producing the US penny and nickel has exceeded their face value, and is now running at an all time high, according to the United States Mint’s latest annual report.

The lowest denomination coins – cents, pennies, whatever – are a headache, for issuers and, increasingly the public. The rising costs of production increasingly mean that the face value of the coins are outstripped by their production costs – resulting in negative seigniorage. On this basis, why do countries keep on minting and issuing them?