Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2025 i World Coin News

We ended the month with the first round of completion of the most nominated Coin of the Year “COTY” countries. These nations included Niue, France, Canada, and Cameroon, to name a few. Almost every year, these roughly 55 countries are the most nominated, so we tend to give them a higher priority for first completion. We also update these countries roughly four times a year because they happen to have the most minted coins. The remaining countries get revised two to three times a year, depending on their production amount and releases. So far this year, over 1,000 new coins have been added. We also made another update to gold and silver metals, which will be reflected in prices, especially for bullion. It appears that these two metals have remained…

No wonder pirates would raise a flag nicknamed the Jolly Roger. You’d be jolly if you could mint your money and not get caught. The Columbretes Islands aren’t much to talk about. The islands are a group of formerly volcanic uninhabited islets off the east coast of Spain in the Gulf of Valencia. The Romans operated mints in parts of Hispania, but the Columbretes Islands weren’t among them. The only successful human occupation of the islands began between 1856 and 1860, when a lighthouse was built. This small community operated the lighthouse and kept smugglers from using the islets as a refuge. The year 1856 is likely the islet’s only date worth remembering; that was when intentional fires were set to rid the Columbretes Islands of a poisonous snake problem.…

The on-again, off-again romance between Bulgaria and the European Central Bank’s currency union is once more resulting in a postponement rather than a marriage. Bulgaria’s currency has undergone many changes, dating back to when the nation was under communist control. The 1947 Law on Banks followed the Soviet model; private banks were nationalized, and the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) controlled all financial services to what quickly became a Soviet-planned economy. Under the rule of the Council of Ministers and the Minister of Finance, the central bank was required to be the lender to the government and the economy. In 1989, the communist government fell, and democratic-oriented elections took place the following year. The same year, the recently established Bulgarian currency board pegged Bulgaria’s lev currency to Germany’s deutsche mark. Germany…

For many Russian coin collectors, those of copper are the most interesting and easiest to find. Foremost among such coins are the large eighteenth-century 5 kopecks of Catherine the Great. However, it was under Nicholas I (reigning from 1825–1855) that a series of changes in copper coinage made these coins almost as popular. The great variety of Russian copper coinage from 1700 to 1917 is tied directly to contemporary economic conditions. After 1769, copper coinage was used as a direct backing for the paper currency (assignats), which were issued for the first time that year. Because it is the government’s nature to issue too much paper money, the amount of printed assignats rose dramatically in the 1780s and 1790s. By the late 1790s, the value of the paper ruble had…

In 1988, a collection of Latin American countries, together with Spain and Portugal, embarked on an unprecedented numismatic project. The initiative was conceived by Spain to celebrate the 500th anniversary of America’s discovery (1492–1992). The former denomination was soon changed to the theme, “Two Worlds Meet” due to objections to the word “discovery” by some Latin American nations. In their opinion, the term obviated the fact that long-standing civilizations with rich histories already existed in these territories prior to the arrival of Spanish colonizers. An order signed on March 21, 1989, by the Spanish Ministry of Economy provided a legal framework for the coin program. The proposal was agreed upon by the leaders of the nations attending the First Ibero-American Summit held in Guadalajara, México, on July 18–19, 1991. These…

Finland This limited-edition €100 gold coin, minted by the Helsinki Mint, celebrates state visits to Finland. Designers Sinikka Inkeroinen-Huhta and Ilkka Huhta incorporated a door on both sides of the coin; the obverse features a glossed version with textured surroundings, while on the reverse it is a rougher surface with a smooth background. Poland A terrifying ancient Germanic creature leaps onto the latest edition of the Germania Mint's "Ancient Beasts" series. Available in three versions that differ in materials, mintage, and size, all of the coins feature the golden-bristled boar, Gullinbursti. Australia The new "Southern Cross" collection—imagined by former CEO of the Royal Australian Mint Ross MacDiarmid and minted by ABC Mint—presents investment-grade bullion coins with designs inspired by Australia's culture and environment. The first issue of the series features…

Israel’s war against the terrorist organization Hamas began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked the country. Israel is attempting to destroy Hamas entirely and its associated Palestinian militant groups. Part of Israel’s plan is to isolate and fully occupy the Gaza Strip. To achieve this goal, all aid, food, and energy usually shipped to people still living in war-torn Gaza have been cut off. So has the supply of physical cash. The most commonly used currency in Gaza is the Israeli shekel. European Union euros, Jordanian dinars, and U.S. dollars also circulate when available. Civilians living in Gaza mistrust banks and have little access to electronic payment systems due to a lack of appropriate infrastructure and unreliable electricity. The Israeli government has considered using artificial intelligence to track illegal…

Australia, Great Britain, and the United States are among the countries that have methodically withdrawn its lowest denomination coin from circulation. The slow, drumbeat of inflationary pressures is the main culprit. The cent no longer has purchasing power, and while these same countries are reluctant to introduce higher denomination bank notes, once again inflation shows this should be taking place. The ironic part of all this is that inflation doesn’t need to end the use of coins in so many countries. A woman known as Pi in the Shandong Province of China has single-handedly awakened the Chinese central bank to the fact coinage not only remains as a viable physical currency but, even in the wake of global inflation, is real money and should be dealt with accordingly. Electrical power…

• Do museums display genuine coins or replicas of them? Museums and some retail stores opt to display replicas rather than genuine coins. The same is true of jewelry and fine art. Security is one possible reason not to display the real thing. Another, especially in the case of fine art or bank notes, may be to avoid harmful lighting that can diminish the object over time. • What would be a museum-quality replica coin? In an ideal world, a museum replica would be indistinguishable from the original. Between 1859 and 1931, the British Museum commissioned Robert Cooper Ready and his sons to make thousands of high-quality electrotype coins, medals, and seal replicas for display purposes. With the museum’s permission, the Ready family also sold these replicas to other institutions…

When an anonymous collector purchased an 1839 “Una & the Lion” £5 pattern coin sometime in the 1930s, he paid a modern-day equivalent of a little over $1,000. Fast forward to May 20, at the Numismatica Ars Classica auction, where the same coin was sold for $1,188,330. How did a coin once purchased for a modest sum become such a high earner? It’s all about the details. The “Una & the Lion” coin was designed by William Wyon to commemorate Queen Victoria’s 1839 coronation and, perhaps, to make a political statement. The young queen stars on the coin as a figurative take of the character Una from Edmund Spenser’s epic poem, “The Faerie Queene.” In the poem, Una is an allegory for the concept of truth, Queen Elizabeth, and the…

Purchasing foreign-made coins is becoming challenging and, in some instances, expensive. Tariffs and Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) are challenging the resolve, patience, and wallets of coin enthusiasts who bid in auctions or purchase from dealers or mints outside the United States. For some collectors, the current challenges began when U.S. President Donald Trump declared “Liberation Day” on April 9 and placed high tariffs on imported goods. For others, their concerns have been increasing in recent years due to the rising number of countries whose MOU with the United States makes importing or owning specific coins illegal. It is difficult to write this article, as tariff rates and exemptions keep changing, while the number of MOUs grows. The many adjustments to the Liberation Day tariffs are expected; most of the tariffs…

Some recently studied coins found off the coast of Mozambique on the island of Ibo in 2016 were in such bad condition that they couldn’t be identified. The coins were so rough that they were subjected as artifacts to a specialized mass spectrometer. A mass spectrometer is an analytical instrument that measures the mass-to-charge ratio of ions. The measure converts chemical compounds into ions in an ionization process. This is followed by acceleration, which propels the ions into a magnetic or electrical field. The third step is deflection, where the ions are separated into their mass-to-charge ratio. This is followed by measuring the separated ions to produce the mass spectrum. This final step is called detection. Mass spectrometer analysis is used to analyze the composition and structure of molecules in…

Let’s start with a little panegyric on Sulayman the Magnificent, who was the subject of much discussion during his lifetime and whose coins we mentioned last time. Sulayman was a marvel and a terror to his neighbors. He was the head of a state that was aggressive in every direction and successful more often than not. The Ottomans had better organization than the people they aggressed against. There was something to that professional standing army; not even the Holy Roman Emperor managed to put that institution in place, and it wouldn’t for several more centuries. It didn’t hurt that the Ottomans adopted personal firearms well before their enemies. By the 16th century, arquebuses, a kind of musket, were in general use amongst the Janissaries. Ottoman guns were considered superior to…

As the weather warms in the Northern Hemisphere, CIT has sought inspiration from a chilly icon for its spring collection. The Liechtenstein-based company is commemorating the 160th anniversary of the first ascent of the Matterhorn, a mountain in the Alps that towers at 14,692 feet on the border of Italy and Switzerland. The coin, made for Switzerland, comes in a 1-ounce silver, 38.61 millimeters proof version with a mintage of 1,865. An even rarer 1-kilogram, 100 millimeters proof gold edition is offered with only nine issues. The famous peak literally stands out on the coin’s reverse, as it is immortalized in an ultra-high 3.5 millimeters relief engraving created with CIT’s signature smartminting® technology. Surrounding the peak in the background is a topographic map of nearby communities. Flip the coin over…

Even on vacation, numismatists are often seeking opportunities to expand their currency knowledge. One of the most rewarding ways to combine leisure with learning is by visiting local museums and exploring their numismatic collections. To help you plan your next getaway with some numis fun in your schedule, here’s a curated list of must-see currency-related exhibitions at museums from around the world. MONEY! The Economy Museum, Stockholm, Sweden Displaying 3,000 objects that span Sweden’s numismatic history, the “MONEY!” exhibition at The Economy Museum offers visitors the opportunity to immerse themselves in the country’s currency culture. As one of the museum’s first permanent exhibitions, the show pairs interactive features—including activities like lifting a copy of the world’s largest coin—with historical displays on fascinating subjects, like the Lohe Hoard and World War…