News in Brief

US Mint Production Exceeds 1.4 Billion Coins

According to the US Mint’s May production figures, circulating coin production has exceeded 1.417 billion coins. This is a 13.4% increase from the previous month, and 12.9% increase from the same time last year – a 14 month high in terms of monthly output. This is also the fifth month in a row that the US Mint has exceeded the 1 billion production mark.

Around 37.2% of those coins produced last month were cents (totalling 528 million), 11.9% nickels (169.6 million), 26.7% dimes (340.4 million), 24% quarters (340.4 million), and 0.12% half dollars (1.7 million). The half dollar (or 50 cent) coins are currently produced as collectibles but are still able to be ordered by the Federal Reserve for circulation and remain legal tender. The same applies for the Native American $1 coins, although the May figures show that none were produced during the month.

In addition, the combined output of both the Denver and Philadelphia mints – which includes both circulating coins and numismatic products – is roughly 8% ahead of last year’s figures. The coinage output for the period January to May is now at just over 6.11 billion coins. If the current production pace were to continue through to December, the annual mintage for 2023 would exceed 14.6 billion coins, versus the 13.6 billion circulating coins minted in 2022.

Florida Ends Bullion Sales Waiting Period

Following the signing of House Bill 737 into law by Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis, it will no longer be compulsory for second-hand goods retailers to place a 30 day hold on bullion products.

The legislation more clearly defines what is considered second-hand goods in the state, and excludes ‘gold, silver, platinum, palladium and rhodium bullion that has been assayed and is properly marked as to its weight and fineness’.

The new measure takes effect from 1 July.

ICDC 2023 Nominations Open

The Japan Mint has held the International Coin Design Competition (ICDC) since 1998, which intends to encourage the creativity of coin designers around the and enhance the artistry of coin design.

The competition features two main categories, ‘General’ and ‘Student’, plus a third Jury’s Special Award. For the ICDC 2022, the Mint received 31 works from 8 countries for the general category, and 331 works from 2 countries for the student category.

Announced at the end of last year, the winner of the ICDC 2022 was designed by Ukrainian Nataliia Fandikova and entitled ‘Good Morning, Ukraine’. The coin features sunflowers on both the obverse and reverse.

The winning design in the student category was designed by Kunigo Ruma, a Japanese high school student. Entitled ‘Sea of Garbage’, the design features jellyfish on one side and dolphins on the other, with one of each species morphing into an aluminium can and plastic bottle respectively.

The Jury’s Special Award was given to Tokyo-based student Ono Aoi for their ‘Japanese Breakfast’ design, which incorporates the coin shape in the design to mimic a bowl.

Entries are now open for the ICDC 2023, with the nomination period closing on 31 July for the general category and 15 September for the student category. More information about the competition and entry requirements can be found on the Japan Mint’s website.

SPMCIL Focuses on Global Expansion

India’s government banknote printer and mint, Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd (SPMCIL), is now more actively targeting the export market.

It has issued an invitation for bids for consultants/agencies to represent it globally for procurement related to banknotes, coins, excise labels, passports, security paper, security ink and other products. (Ref No: SPMCIL-16019/2/2022-MARKETING-SPMCIL/793. The deadline for bids is 28 July 2023).

SPMCIL has a wide portfolio and manufactures both commemorative and circulating coins, along with currency/security paper, security ink, banknotes, and a range of other government documents. Of its nine units, four of these are mints – based in Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Noida.

These units have the capacity to produce 9.7 billion coins a year, and in FY2022 the company minted 784 million coins. While it is currently printing near total capacity for banknotes (producing just under 8 billion banknotes in the same period), it still requires proper utilisation of production at its mints. In 2022 alone, SPMCIL could have leveraged the spare capacity of 8.6 billion coins for export orders.

New Leaders at IPZS

The Italian government has appointed a new President and a new managing director for Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca della Stato (IPZS), the Italian Mint.

Paolo Perrona, a former mayor of Lecce, takes up the position of President of the Board of Directors.

Francesco Soro, the new Managing Director, was formerly a director at the Italian Ministry of Economic Development and has a background in institutional and public affairs, as well as law.

New Management for WMF

The organisers of the World Money Fair (WMF), which is held annually in Berlin, have announced a change of leadership with a new managing director for the event.

Goetz-Ulf Jungmichel has been in the position of Managing Director for the organising company, World Money Fair Holding GmbH, since September 2022 but is now confirmed as the new Managing Director of the event itself.

The new managing director has said that the event will be further developed with a focus on digitalisation, and it ‘will be built in a modern design that combines dynamism and globalism’.

Former Managing Director Barbara Balz has been the operational director of the event for 18 years, and although she is leaving the company, she will be available as a consultant for WMF in the future, according to the press release.