With the awards ceremony scheduled to take place at the Currency Conference in Mexico City (15-16 May), the finalists for the 2023 Excellence in Currency Awards have now been announced.

Both the Monnaie de Paris and the Mint of Finland have published their results for 2022. The French mint had a good year, the Finnish Mint did not.

Whilst some central banks are turning to technology to solve issues with coin distribution, the option of using coin-operated machines is steadily being replaced in many areas by those offering cashless payment options only. These options may be more convenient, but they can come at the expense of those who rely on traditional cash-accepting machines.

Hosted by the Royal Canadian Mint and scheduled to take place 15-18 October in Ottawa, the Mint Directors Conference has announced that the keynote speaker will be economist and former Governor of the Bank of Canada, Stephen Poloz.

Under section 104 of the US Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-145), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is required to submit an annual report to Congress on the Presidential $1 Coin Program.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is preparing to launch a new pilot project using QR code-based Coin Vending Machines in order to improve coin distribution in the country.

Back by popular demand, the latest edition of The Directory of Currency & Technology Suppliers is now being compiled. This sought-after directory is an essential resource for central banks and issuers, printers and mints, and everyone in the cash cycle.

To mark what would have been the 70th anniversary of the late Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation this year, the Pacific territory of Tokelau has issued three new commemorative coins.

Currency Research will be holding the inaugural Silk Road Cash & Payments Conference in Almaty from 27-29 March.

A new event will be taking place later this year, namely the International Money Exposition, which is scheduled to take place between 26-29 October 2023 at the Music City Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

Last month, the ECB released its 2022 banknote counterfeit figures. Whereas the ECB publishes counterfeit banknotes statistics promptly one month after the year end, the figures for euro coin counterfeits are less timely.

Counterfeiting is nothing new – indeed it has often been called the world’s second oldest profession. Counterfeiting of money has been going on ever since the invention of physical money in around the 6th century BC.

Three years to the day after first joining the South African Mint as its Managing Director, Honey Mamabolo sat down with Coin & Mint News™ to discuss the last few years as a leader and overcoming the challenges caused by the pandemic, the upcoming refreshed coin series, and the importance of coin in South Africa.

The Royal Australian Mint (RAM) has been selected as the winner of a Worldstar Packaging Award for its new sustainable Standard Proof Coin Box.

The official launch of the International Mint Industry Association (IMIA) took place at the World Money Fair in Berlin. The IMIA has been established to promote cash and coin access and acceptance, with six mints as founding members.

The Technical Forum returned as a live event this year when the World Money Fair took place for the 50th time from 3-5 February in Berlin.

The National Bank of Ukraine’s ‘30th Anniversary of Ukraine’s Independence’ 5 hryvnia silver coin has been voted the overall winner in the Coin of the Year (COTY) awards, run by American numismatic publisher Krause.

On 1 January 2023, and following a two-year break due to COVID, the Royal Australian Mint held its annual First Coin of the Year event at its facility in Canberra.

The lack of facilities to deposit coins presents a significant barrier to an efficient cash cycle. So, it was good to hear of a new initiative from the National Bank of Poland, namely a coin deposit solution, presented at the Coin Conference.

In a fascinating presentation at the Coin Conference In Amsterdam last October, Anikó Bódi-Schubert of Magyar Nemzeti Bank told delegates about an ambitious programme that has brought coin collecting into the digital age.