In a continuing trend of bypassing child labor laws to get free and strange coin designs, enter japan http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T120530004044.htm Boy's design chosen for coin The Yomiuri Shimbun A 9-year-old boy has become the youngest Japanese to have ever designed a government memorial coin after his artwork was chosen for one of the coins to be issued to commemorate the Great East Japan Earthquake reconstruction project. The design by Taichi Kojima, a fourth-grader at Odawara municipal Kuno Primary School in Kanagawa Prefecture, shows a boy holding Japanese flags, with "Ganbaro Nippon" (Hang on, Japan) written in colorful words beside him. This is the third time the government has chosen designs for memorial coins from the public. The previous coins commemorated the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and the 1985 Tsukuba Exposition. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nb20120531a5.html Boy, 9, awarded for coin design urging recovery Kyodo [h=1]Boy, 9, awarded for coin design urging recovery[/h] Kyodo The Finance Ministry has selected three new designs for commemorative coins, including one by a 9-year-old boy depicting his desire for the nation's early recovery from the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. [TABLE="align: right"] Brave face: A design by Taichi Kojima is shown on a ¥1,000 commemorative coin in a computer rendering from the Finance Ministry. KYODO [/TABLE] Taichi Kojima, a fourth-grader at an elementary school in Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, along with two adults, aged 40 and 60, were selected after the ministry sought ideas for the coins, which are to be presented to people who buy large amounts of the government-issued reconstruction bonds. Kojima's design, which depicts a boy holding two national flags with a message in the background stating, "Cheer up, Japan," will appear on one side of ¥1,000 silver coins.
Compared to what nearly ever other country is producing, it is amazing how mundane and uninspired every American issue. Mandy
The Japanese Mint also promotes coin design in other ways. Every year they have an International Coin Design Competition (ICDC) for students and other designers. The submitted pieces are usually "medal designs" rather than coin designs, as they have no country name or face value - the primary idea is to endorse creativity. Last year there were 127 designs from 16 countries, plus 174 "student designs" from 7 countries. A jury picked the best ones, in various categories. See here: http://www.mint.go.jp/eng/event/finaljudge2011.html More about this year's competition, deadlines and other conditions, is here: http://www.mint.go.jp/eng/event/ent2012.html Christian
