News in Brief

RAM Unveils New Effigy for Circulating Coinage

The Australian government has unveiled the effigy of HM King Charles III, which will soon start appearing on circulating coins produced by the Royal Australian Mint (RAM).

Designed by Dan Thorne from the UK’s The Royal Mint, the effigy has been approved by the King and, in a departure from the current coin design, does not feature a crown atop the monarch’s head. According to Leigh Gordon, RAM CEO, the Mint intends to produce ten million of the new coins by Christmas.

The first coin to feature the King’s effigy will be the $1, which will begin appearing in banks across the country before the end of the year. The other denominations will be progressively released in 2024, based on bank demand. RAM has already said that it will continue to use the Queen Elizabeth II Memorial Obverse until May 2024.

RCM Partners with aXedras

The Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) has announced a partnership with aXedras, a developer of digital solutions for supply chains of precious metals that support proof of provenance, product integrity and traceability within the precious metal industry.

The partnership comes after the successful completion of a global pilot under the Gold Bar Integrity Programme co-initiated and led by the London Bullion Market Association and the World Gold Council.

RCM says it will leverage aXedras’ Bullion Integrity Ledger™ solution to realise its goal to be best-in-class for its supply chain and partner management. This collaboration will help to provide an additional layer of assurance and transparency in its refinery’s operations, it said, reinforcing its position as a leading player in the precious metal industry.

aXedras’s blockchain-based solution captures and preserves data along the supply chain of gold, ensuring the provenance and integrity of refined gold products, thereby providing downstream customers and investors both traceability and transparency.

400 Million Coins from Finland to Guatemala

Banco de Guatemala and the Mint of Finland have announced the signing of a new contract for the production and supply of circulation coins from the former to the latter. The Mint of Finland will produce and supply 400 million pieces of 1 quetzal circulation coins – the country’s highest coin denomination – with deliveries taking place between 2023 and 2025.

The Mint first delivered circulation coins to Banco de Guatemala in 2018, and has said that it is ‘proud to have been awarded this significant contract, which is the biggest so far’.

This follows an order secured for Colombia in July for 370.5 million circulating coins (see CMN July 2023).

BSP Deploys Further CoDMs

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has deployed a further 15 coin deposit machines (CoDMs) over the last couple of months, in response to growing demand. There are now a total of 25 CoDMs available across the Greater Manila Area.

CoDMs were launched earlier this year (see CMN June, July 2023) with the aim of promoting efficient coin recirculation in the country. According to the BSP, as of the end of September a total of 98.8 million pisos (c. £1.42 million) worth of coins have been deposited into the machines, equivalent to 37.2 million pieces of coins from over 37,000 transactions.

Pobjoy Mint Announces Closure

Following 58 years in operation, manufacturing official currency and commemorative coins, Pobjoy Mint has announced that it will close its doors by the end of this year.

The Surrey, UK-based private mint has struck coins and medals for 42 countries of territories since 1965. Beginning with medals marking the death of UK wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Pobjoy went on to strike its first circulating coins in 1970 for the Isle of Man, and its first crown coin in 1974. In more recent years, the Mint has focused on popular £2 and 50p commemoratives for the UK market.

Speaking on the Coin World podcast, Managing Directory, Taya Pobjoy, said that pandemic uncertainty, followed by the change in monarch, provided the catalyst for her retirement and the closure of the Mint.

Pobjoy Mint will continue to sell coins until the end of November, with plans to release a special coin as its very last issue.

New Subscription Service for Coiniverse

Coiniverse, the coin collecting app recently spun out from the Mint of Finland into an independent Startup (see CMN August, September 2023), has announced the launch of the ‘Coiniverse Club’.

Replacing the previous Coiniverse Pro service, the new subscription service offers a range of exclusive features and content including a coin valuation service, personal collection statistics and insights, and an issuing calendar detailing upcoming coin released in one place.

The company has said future development of both the subscription service and platform are underway, with the former emerging from feedback of the previous Pro service.

According to Mikko Sievänen, CEO of Coiniverse, ‘Coiniverse Pro was the first step in enhancing the collector experience. Based on feedback, we have created a path towards the future of collecting while still honouring tradition. We aim to provide a deeper dive into the beloved hobby for novice and seasoned collectors. At the same time, we can connect mints even more to the most enthusiastic numismatics.’

US Mint Announces AWQ 2025 Honourees

The US Mint has announced the last five pioneering American women to be celebrated on the final year’s releases of the American Women Quarters Program in 2025.

The women set to be honoured are:

• Ida B Wells – investigative journalist, suffragist, and civil rights activist

• Juliette Gordon Low – founder of the Girl Scouts organisation

• Dr Vera Rubin – astronomer who pioneered work on galaxy rotation

• Stacey Park Milbern – activist for people with disabilities

• Althea Gibson – multi-sport athlete and first Black athlete to break the colour barrier at the highest level in tennis.

As with all other quarters in this series, the obverse side of each coin will depict a portrait of George Washington, originally composed and sculpted by Laura Gardin Fraser to mark Washington’s 200th birthday.

The release schedule is likely to follow those of previous years, and more details of the coin designs will follow in future issues of Coin & Mint News™, as each AWQ is released.