News in Brief

Royal Joh Enschedé Produces Gold Banknote

Royal Joh Enschedé, in collaboration with The Global Note™, has released a gold embellished commemorative banknote in honour of footballer Dennis Bergkamp, which includes an augmented reality (AR) experience provided via mobile app.

Titled the ‘Golden Bergkamp commemorative banknote’, the collectible note celebrates the legendary goal scored by the Dutch footballer during the 1998 World quarter-final match held between the Netherlands and Argentina.

Designed and printed by Royal Joh Enschedé, and made available to purchase from The Global Note, the banknote is laced with 23 carat gold and holds several of the security features typically utilised when printing currency, including microtext. It also delivers augmented reality features and proprietary access to the ‘Dennis Bergkamp Experience’ when using the provided mobile app, allowing users to gain a virtual and visual experience with Bergkamp – who shares stories and experiences from his time as a footballer.

The limited-edition banknote is also accompanied by a digital twin, enabling the owner of each note to ‘mint’ it in their digital wallet through the Ciphers.me platform.

‘With the Dennis Bergkamp note, we have entered a new chapter by blending the physical craftsmanship required for currency printing with cutting edge digital technology for the collectors and sports enthusiast market’, said Gelmer Leibbrandt, Managing Director of Royal Joh Enschedé.

Monnaie de Paris to Remake Euro Coins

In November last year, the Monnaie de Paris produced new designs of – and subsequently began minting – approximately 27 million 10, 20, and 50 euro cent coins. These coins included a new pattern as part of their design, with European Union law permitting eurozone members to redesign the ‘national’ side of their coins every 15 years. Any currency redesign must meet approval from the European Commission, and be presented to the other eurozone governments, who have one week to voice any objections.

According to French daily La Lettre, the European Commission later rejected the new coins with the explanation that the EU stars were ‘too hard to see’. As minting had already begun – with the Mint noting earlier this month that production had been initiated in order to meet deadlines and ensure the distribution of the new standard coins at the beginning of this year –it has been landed with the expensive cost of melting and reminting those coins already produced.

Newly submitted designs have since been approved, with the unveiling of the updated coin designs set for the near future, before Spring.

Eesti Pank Launches Competition for Half- Millenium Coin Design

Estonia’s central bank, Eesti Pank, has launched a competition to design a new commemorative €2 circulation coin titled ‘The Estonian Literary Language 500’, marking 500 years since the first publication containing Estonian and the start of the Estonian literary language.

The competition is open until 28 February 2024, with the winning designer entitled to a €3,000 prize, €2,000 for second placed and €1,000 for the third placed design.

Results of the winning coin designs will be announced in the middle of this year by the latest, with the coins themselves scheduled to enter circulation at the start of next year.

CoinWeek Awards Three Coins Best in Class for 2023

The editors of CoinWeek considered over 200 legal tender coins in its review of those produced in 2023, reviewing the output of the world’s leading public and private mints. It settled on three of these coins to be awarded ‘Gold’, ‘Silver’, and ‘Bronze’, as the best coin designs of last year – taking theme, design, material use, typography, and collector desirability into consideration.

The US Mint’s Jovita Idar American Women Quarter (see CMN August 2023) was awarded ‘Gold’, considered the best coin design of 2023 by the reviewers.

According to CoinWeek, it was ‘pleasantly surprising’ that the gold medal went to a circulating coin – with balance, artistic merit, and innovation noted as three important factors behind the coin achieving its top award.

The ‘Silver’ award was given to the Royal Canadian Mint for its Puzzle Coin – Celestial Circle. Designed by artist Morgan Asoyuf and celebrating the Indigenous Ts’mysen culture of Canada’s Northwest coastal region, the puzzle coin is comprised of eight pieces, with seven of the pieces interlocking and wrapping around a central $50 coin. CoinWeek called the Mint ‘one of the most innovative state mints in the world’, noting that the coin was a ‘stunning piece’.

The Austrian Mint’s Chamomile coin was awarded ‘Bronze’, with the colourised proof edition of the coin specifically selected as the award winner. The coin was released as part of the Mint’s ‘Language of Flowers’ coin series and depicts several chamomile flowers in bloom on the reverse, with a coloured ornamental image of the flowers stretching diagonally across the right-hand side of the coin.

The obverse pays homage to the meanings of chamomile in the language of flowers, ‘strength in difficult situations’ and ‘energy in adversity’, and depicts a determined- looking young women with chamomile flowers in her hair, symbolising vitality. A phoenix, representing renewal and rebirth, sits on her shoulder, with a spear present in the background of the image.