News in Brief

The Royal Mint Celebrates Royal Anniversary

To commemorate the anniversary of HM King Charles III’s accession to the throne, The Royal Mint has released ‘The Royal Celebration Bar’, a range of bullion bars.

Each bar features two designs – one depicting the King Charles III’s royal cypher, and the other a heraldic design created by one of the Mint’s product designers, Thomas T Docherty. The royal cypher design also features the Tudor Crown used by the King’s grandfather, George VI.

The heraldic design features the crowned Lion of England at the top left of the bar, the Unicorn of Scotland at the top right, the Dragon of Wales at the bottom right, and the Elk of Northern Ireland at the bottom left of the design. The Tudor Crown also appears in the centre of the design, with one each of the national flowers of each nation – the rose, thistle, leek, and shamrock – between the animals.

Each bar is available in limited numbers, with 5,000 gold editions, 70,000 one ounce silver editions, and 6,000 ten ounce silver editions available.

Costco Gold Bars Sell Out ‘Within Hours’

Warehouse retail giant Costco has been selling 1oz gold bars to its customers, with Rand Refinery’s Loxodonta African Elephant and MKS PAMP Suisse’s Lady Fortuna bars both on offer.

According to a report from Insider, the company’s CFO has said that although limited to two bars per member, once ‘load[ed] on the site, they’re typically gone within a few hours’.

Both bars are made by a LBMA certified Good Delivery Refiner, with Rand Refinery’s bar individually stamped with a unique serial number and packaged in a sealed black assay card. PAMP Suisse’s bar includes its proprietary bullion identification security system, VERISCAN™, alongside the bar’s carbon neutral certification (see CMN June).

Each PAMP Suisse bar is also secured with the company’s CertiPAMP™ packaging, alongside an official assay certificate and digital certificate accessed with a QR Code.

Eesti Pank Launches Coin Collection Campaign

The Bank of Estonia (Eesti Pank) has launched a coin collection campaign in collaboration with Estonian-based postal service and logistics company Omniva.

The campaign aims to collect one million coins through a pilot programme whereby people can exchange their accumulated coins in selected post offices. There will be no service fee until the target has been reached, or no later than 22 October, after which coins can be exchanged until the end of the year for a service fee of 5%.

Eesti Pank aims to have the return of small copper euro coins in circulation to reduce their production, and therefore, the environmental footprint of cash. This follows exploration by the central bank in introducing coin rounding, which would discontinue the use of 1 and 2 cent coins in circulation.

Although focused on smaller denomination coinage, euro coins of any denomination can be taken in and exchanged for euro notes and coins of higher value, with exchange of up to 3 kg of coins at a time allowed.

US Mint Consults Public on New Designs

The US Mint is surveying the public through to 10 October for their preferred themes for the one-year 2026 circulating coinage honouring the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The legal authorisation for striking these coins was part of the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020.

In collaboration with representatives from the Smithsonian, the National Archives and Records Administration, the Library of Congress, and the National Park Service, the Mint has drafted a list of thematic concepts for consideration. They include whether specific people deserve to appear on the coins (and if so, who), along with the importance (or otherwise) of honouring the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Constitutional amendment abolishing slavery, or the Constitutional amendment expanding voting privileges to women.

RCM Contributes Nearly $140,000 Through Keepsake

Last year, the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) released the 2022 Truth and Reconciliation Keepsake, which honours the more than 150,000 First Nations, Inuit and Métis children who were taken from their families and forced to attend Residential, Day and Boarding Schools across Canada.

The Keepsake was designed by three Indigenous artists, representing First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities, who worked with survivors to create an appropriate and thoughtful design marking the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

The Mint announced that all proceeds from the Keepsake would support the work of the Na-mi-quai-ni-mak Community Support Fund (Na-mi-quai-ni-mak is an Anishinaabemowin name meaning ‘I remember them’). The community fund was established by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation to aid survivors and their communities in carrying out healing, wellness and commemoration activities.

This month, the RCM announced that through the sale of the Keepsake and with support from people across Canada it has contributed nearly $140,000 to the fund.

More information about the Truth and Reconciliation Keepsake can be found here: www.mint.ca/en/discover/truth-and-reconciliation.