Awards - Our Finalists & Winners
Click on the image to get more info about the finalist.
Best Circulating Coin or Coin Series
2€ New National Obverse
A new French €2 coin was issued in 2022, the first time a circulating euro coin has been redesigned since the introduction of the currency in 2002.
Euro coins have a common side and a national side, and each eurozone country is entitled to change its observe (national side) every 15 years. France was the first to do so, taking advantage of the 20th anniversary of the euro and the French presidency of the European Council to make the change, which marks the start of a renewal of all eight French denominations.
The new design is by Joaquin Jiménez, engraver of the original ‘Tree of Life’ which appears on the original €1 and €2 coins. It is a natural evolution of that design, with a combination of the two trees that constitute the emblem of the Republic – namely, the oak, symbolising strength and solidity, and the olive, a symbol of peace.
The different facets of the leaves represent diversity, which constitutes national unity. At the bottom of the image is the acronym RF (for the French Republic),
The refreshed Tree of Life appears on both the new €1 and €2 coins. They were officially presented by President Macron and the French Minister of European Affairs during the launch of the French Presidency in January 2022.
Monnaie de Paris
2022 $2 Coloured Circulating Coin – Honey Bee
The $2 Honey Bee coin was issued in 2022 as a joint collaboration between the Royal Australian Mint and the Honey Bee Industry Council to mark the 200th anniversary of the establishment of the bee industry in Australia.
Introduced in 1822, the European honey bee successfully adapted to Australia’s climate and flora and they now produce the majority of Australian honey. The honey bees are also regarded as a valuable agricultural commodity by pollinating plants, resulting in superior quality harvest and increased yield. Honey bee pollination is estimated to contribute $4- 6 billion to the Australian economy and across Australia, there are approximately 20,000 registered beekeepers operating more than 640,000 hives, producing up to 30,000 tonnes of honey each year which is consumed in nearly 40 countries across the globe.
The reverse of the Honey Bee coin has a central circle printed in a honey-coloured ink, which is protected by an intricated sculptured honeycomb. Surrounding the circle are engravings of two bees at work, along with examples of the plants they pollinate.
Royal Australian Mint
Circulating Pride 50p
The Gay Pride 50p coin was issued by The Royal Mint (TRM) in June 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Pride UK. The coin marks the first time Britain’s LGBTQ+ community has been celebrated on official UK coinage, and forms part of TRM’s wider commitment to diversity and inclusion.
The objective of the design was to celebrate the history of the Gay Pride movement and accurately represent the LGBTQ+ community, whilst promoting positivity and solidarity in the process.
The design process started back in In August 2020, when Pride UK held an online digital art exhibition that displayed the work of 52 artists from the LGBTQ+ community, selected from hundreds of submissions in a national competition held by Pride in London. Following the exhibition, TRM invited the 52 to participate in a competition to create a reverse design for the UK 50p coin, enlisting Pride of London as an external partner.
The winning designer was Dominique Holmes, an east London artist, writer and LGBTQ+ activist. His design uses a series of rainbows to reflect the movement’s values of protest, visibility, unity and equality.
The Royal Mint
Best Collectible Gold Coin
100 Euro THE GOLD OF THE PHARAOHS
The polished and frosted €100 coin from Münze Österreich, issued in 2020, is the second in The Magic of Gold series, which traces the mysterious nature of gold in ancient cultures.
Made of pure gold (the ‘flesh of the gods’ and the symbol of eternity in Ancient Egypt), the coin features the death mask of the ‘boy king’, Tutankhamun – the most celebrated burial object uncovered in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings.
The coin highlights the significance of the discovery, with the face of Tutankhamun guarding the secret of the Pharaohs and telling the story in pictures of what took place more than 3,000 years ago.
In the 14th century BC, Tutankhamun’s father, Akhenaten, declared the sun god, Aten, to be the one and only god and the Pharaoh his only representative on earth. When Akhenaten died, his successor was still a child. It is believed that the priesthood and officials made Tutankhamun rescind his father’s reforms and restore ancient Egyptian polytheism by reintroducing the worship of multiple gods.
The obverse features a collage of Ancient Egyptian images, with Akhenaten in its centre, raising his hands in homage to Aten, against a background of a sarcophagus
Austrian Mint
Bullion Britannia
The Royal Mint issued a 1 oz silver and a 1 oz gold ‘Britannia’ coin in 2021 for collectors and investors, which it describes as the world’s most visually secure bullion coins.
First appearing on the coins of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, Britannia (which has stood as the female personification of Britain for centuries) has been a continuous presence on British coins since 1672 during the reign of Charles II.
The icon has evolved through the ages, and this latest incarnation is a reimagination of the 1987 design created by sculptor Philip Nathan in 1987, with its carefully chosen symbols comprising a shield for protection, an olive branch for peace and a trident for Britannia’s connection to the sea.
Four new features have enhanced these elements, making it easier to authenticate the coins, security being a key requirement for the investment community.
They include a latent image that switches between a trident and a padlock when the coin is rotated, microtext spelling out the words ‘DECUS ET TUTAMEN’ (meaning ‘an ornament and a safeguard’), the use of light and dark tones created by smooth lines on flag on Britannia’s shield, and micro dot surface animation that creates a wave effect behind Britannia when the coin is moved.
The Royal Mint
Solomon Islands 2021 | Gold Coin “2500 Years Confucius” Au999.9 2oz with jade inlay
‘2500 Years of Confucius’ is the theme of this 2 oz gold coin, which incorporates a genuine jade ring and gold lettering, representing an unparalleled fusion of precious materials.
The design celebrates 2,500 years of Confucius, the philosopher whose influence has shaped civilisations for centuries, A genuine jade ring is seamlessly integrated into the design. Engraved into the outer ring are Chinese characters highlighting the five cardinal virtues of humanity that underpin his teachings.
The blend of jade, gold, and gold lettering creates a visually captivating design that stands as a testament to the enduring beauty and relevance of Confucian philosophy, even in the contemporary world.
German Mint
Best Collectible Silver Coin
Apollo 11 50th Anniversary 5 oz. Proof Silver Dollar
The 5 oz, 3-inch, proof-polished, curved Apollo 11 coin marked the 50th anniversary of the first manned lunar landing, in 1969.
The obverse design features the names of NASA’s previous space exploration projects around the rim, which laid the foundation for the success of the Apollo 11 landing. In the centre is a boot print on the lunar surface, representing NASA Astronaut Neil Armstrong’s quote from the lunar surface, ‘That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.’ The concave curvature evokes a lunar crater, while the sculpted rough texture represents the moon’s surface.
.
The reverse design is a representation of the famous photo of NASA Astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the moon, with the curved visor represented by the curvature of the coin, reflecting back Neil Armstrong as he took the picture.
The United States Mint in Philadelphia produced 100,000 of the coins – the first time it had minted a curved coin with such a large diameter and also the first time it had applied a proof polish finish at that size.
To accommodate the proof finish wearing off faster during production, it bought six CNC milling machines to produce 450 dies (by comparison, only 3-4 pairs are needed for a typical 3-inch silver coin program).
The application of the laser frosting, which required complex adjustments in the focal height related to the depth and curvature of the curved surface, was also challenging. Once addressed, new fixtures for the PVD die-coating chamber were developed to accommodate the large diameter of the dies, representing another first at the United States Mint.
US Mint
Bullion Britannia
The Royal Mint issued a 1 oz silver and a 1 oz gold ‘Britannia’ coin in 2021 for collectors and investors, which it describes as the world’s most visually secure bullion coins.
First appearing on the coins of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, Britannia (which has stood as the female personification of Britain for centuries) has been a continuous presence on British coins since 1672 during the reign of Charles II.
The icon has evolved through the ages, and this latest incarnation is a reimagination of the 1987 design created by sculptor Philip Nathan in 1987, with its carefully chosen symbols comprising a shield for protection, an olive branch for peace and a trident for Britannia’s connection to the sea.
Four new features have enhanced these elements, making it easier to authenticate the coins, security being a key requirement for the investment community.
They include a latent image that switches between a trident and a padlock when the coin is rotated, microtext spelling out the words ‘DECUS ET TUTAMEN’ (meaning ‘an ornament and a safeguard’), the use of light and dark tones created by smooth lines on flag on Britannia’s shield, and micro dot surface animation that creates a wave effect behind Britannia when the coin is moved.
The Royal Mint
Silver Burst 2022
The 3 oz Silver Burst coin, produced by CIT Coin Invest for the Cook Islands and issued in 2022, is part of a series of three coins designed to embrace the idea of beauty in destruction.
In this edition, the coin shows how fragile and amazing the human body is. Smartminting® technology was used to create imagery that interprets in a modern and abstract way how much the human vessel can accommodate in terms of information, opinions, images and news before it falls apart.
The effect of a bursting body is depicted through a stunning combination of proof areas and ultra high relief elements, with areas of the body appearing to shatter like glass.
CIT Coin Invest AG
Best Packaging (of a collectible coin)
2 KG Dior Trunk
In 2018 Monnaie de Paris and the world-famous design house Dior collaborated to create a piece of packaging that is an expression of French luxury know-how.
The aim of the trunk-shaped case is to inspire collecting. It is similar to the trunks used to store and protect dresses from the designer and highlights the aesthetic codes central to Christian Dior. These include the houndstooth design used in his work, the couture bow and the iconic suit-shaped bottle of the fragrance Miss Dior, as well as the roses of Grasse that go into the fragrance.
The case is accompanied by a pair of gloves (essential to its handling), a brochure, a certificate of authenticity and an original work designed and signed by the artist Xavier Casalta.
Monnaie de Paris
The numismatic set of commemorative gold coins ”Hum and the Višnjan Observatory”
In 2022, the Croatian National Bank issued the world’s smallest coin. Produced by the Croatian Mint, the gold coin has a diameter of just 1.99mm and weighs a mere 0.05 grams. It bears the motif of Hum, known as the smallest city in the world, and is part of a numismatic set in a limited series of 199 pieces, in which there is also a 1 oz gold coin with the motif of the Višnjan Observatory.
The exclusive packaging, from the Croatian studio Design Bureau Izvorka Jurić, was inspired by the desire to explore. A hard laminated box covered with dark blue paper opens like a map, leading to the valuables within. The opening process is an experience in itself. By unfolding from smaller to larger, each step reveals one part of the set, with gold text providing a guide. When fully opened, the Hum and the Višnjan Observatory gold coins are revealed on a surface illuminated by tiny LED lights, giving the impression of the night sky and helping to illuminate the coins.
The box also contains protective cotton gloves and a magnifying glass for viewing the smallest coin.
Croatian Mint
United States Mint Rocketship™
The United States Mint Rocketship™ coin set was targeted at the young, aiming to engage children in coins and inspire them with American science and technology.
The graphics of the packaging include illustrations of US Mint cartoon characters and are embellished with ‘glow in the dark’ print.
The upright pack, die cut in the shape of a rocket ship, has room for three coins – two of which were provided with the set, allowing the collectors to complete the set with the insertion of their own favourite quarter.
US Mint
Best Sustainability Initiative
Circulating Blank Annealing Furnace Retrofit
The goal was to reduce natural gas usage and pollutant output while maintaining thermal and operational characteristics of the furnaces used at the United States Mint’s plants in Philadelphia and Denver.
To achieve this goal, the protective atmosphere used in the annealing process was switched from the traditional exogas generated by natural gas combustion to a mixture of high purity gas at a ratio of 97% nitrogen to 3% hydrogen. Both are created in cabinet generators near the furnaces, utilizing electricity and water provided by the local utility company.
The result has been an overall reduction of the output of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions by 2,000 metric tonnes per year. As the Mint’s power providers continue to transition to renewable sources, the reduction of greenhouse gases is set to increase by as much as a further 900 metric tonnes per year.
It has also resulted in a reduction of energy required to ventilate the production area by eliminating the production of carbon monoxide (which is a byproduct of natural gas combustion to generate the exogas atmosphere).
In addition, the furnaces were retrofitted with higher efficiency recuperative burners to further reduce natural gas consumption, down by 50% from 1.415 million cubic meters to 708,000 cubic meters.
A further benefit has been an increase in blank quality, since the nitrogen/hydrogen atmosphere reduces the amount of oxides forming on the blanks during the annealing process. This in turn has reduced the use of chemicals during the post -processing and cleaning of the coin blanks and hence less wastewater output.
Safety at the facilities has also improved due to the elimination of flammable environment and the reduction of carbon monoxide generated.
US Mint
Local Energy Centre (LEC) – the GSCS (Generation Storage Consumption Supply) Project
The Royal Mint, in collaboration with Infinite Renewables Group Ltd (IRGL), has developed an innovative Local Energy Centre (LEC), part of the Generation Storage Consumption Supply (GSCS) project and funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Welsh Government and Albion Community Power.
This project integrates renewable and low carbon generation technologies with battery storage, creating a local micro grid network that will generate up to 70% of the electricity needed to power its 38-acre manufacturing site.
The LEC comprises a 2MW 4,000+ panel solar farm, two wind turbines, a hydrogen-ready combined heat and power unit (CHP) and a dual chemistry battery energy storage system (BESS).
Compared with the first quarter of FY21/22 (the Royal Mint’s baseline year for measuring its decarbonisation performance) the LEC has helped contribute to a decrease of approximately 40% in CO2 emissions from energy (electricity and gas). The ground-mounted solar farm alone generated 244,245kWh in the first three full months of operations (from January to March 2023), enough to power 84 UK households for a year.
The Local Energy Centre is enabling the TRM to power various facilities across the site. For example, the CHP used for the brass plating line is expected to provide around 70% of the electricity needed to power this particular process/equipment. In another example, the LEC’s solar farm and wind turbines are providing around 50% of the power consumption needs of the Armour 2 nickel plating line.
In total, the project aims to decrease reliance on grid electricity from approximately 97% to around 30%, and forms a key part of TRM’s ommitment to decarbonise its operations by transitioning away from fossil fuels to renewable energy and reducing energy consumption.
In addition, as part of its community engagement efforts, TRM supported a competition for local primary school children, involving the creation of a bilingual (Welsh and English) ‘Clean Energy’ poster. Six winners and their classmates were invited to The Royal Mint Experience, where they had the opportunity to meet met Iolo Williams (a well-known Welsh ornithologist and broadcaster), strike their own coins, and learn about TRM’s sustainability initiatives.
The Royal Mint
The Dutch Vault
The new Dutch Vault, which went into operation in 2020, is the first industry’s first energy-neutral mint. It was constructed at a cost of €20 million, and sustainability was designed into not just the building itself, but also operations and processes. As a result, RDM is self-sufficient in energy and has reduced its waste by around 50% compared with its previous site.
The solar power plant on the facility’s roof meets all its electricity needs. The building is heated with electricity only, so not does not consume any fossil fuels. The heat from the presses can be reused to heat the building and cold night air is used to cool it in the summer.
The company has also taken various operational measures to reduce its carbon footprint, materials consumption and waste.
Demand for electricity is minimised through the use of LED lighting and timers, advanced heating, ventilation and air condition systems, and electric forklift trucks.
Rainwater is captured and used to flush toilets and to water the gardens. RDM uses a local recycling company to treat process water with high levels of metal particles. The wastewater is now of such high quality that the environmental impact is no longer significant. Moreover, the metal particles themselves are captured and recycled.
RDM has also been able to reduce the use of chemicals and production time in its machines and processes by optimising the process parameters and monitoring the time and consumption. Automation has increased productivity.
Cardboard for packaging is now sourced from ‘Forest Stewardship Council’ suppliers, and if plastic packaging is required, RDM looks to work with recyclable plastics. All waste on site is now sorted and, wherever possible, recycled.
Staff are encouraged to use public transport or cycle to work, there are fewer office printers, and these are set to print double sided only and in monocolour.
Royal Dutch Mint
