Christian,don't forget that this year's Irish 15 Euro medal-coin was struck at the Croatian Mint,Zagreb.Which Irish Euro medal-coins have been struck at the Royal Mint,Llantrisant? I know that the Irish 1995 silver Proof 1 Pound medal-coin that commemorates the 50th. Anniversary of the United Nations was struck at the Royal Mint. Although Malta has a population less than 500,000 people,it has a mint,which is located on the premises of the Central Bank of Malta in Valletta. Aidan.
Sorry, my mistake - so far, none of Ireland's euro collector coins has been minted by the British Royal Mint. However, the RM made some (about 10%) of the Irish 1 and 5 cent 2002 circulation coins. Too bad that mints cannot be forced to use mint marks on all of their products. In some cases it is apparently quite difficult to find out where a coin was made because neither the producing mint nor the government that ordered them publishes any detailed info. Then again, in some countries like Romania even the mintage of domestically made circulation coins seems to be a secret ... Christian
Actually I got some 'inside information' that the Royal Canadian Mint has an exclusive contract as of late 2006 to mint coins for New Zealand. In fact the special 'plating technology' they use to make the coins can only be done by the RCM.
New Zealand coins. Dopeuser,this year,the Royal Canadian Mint will be supplying the blank planchets to the Royal Australian Mint to strike the New Zealand coins.Here's a list of countries whose coins were struck at the Royal Canadian Mint at both Ottawa & Winnipeg; www.coinscan.com . Aidan.
I dont think so, I have one document from the Gov't of New Zealand, and I have a 'pre-public release' copy of a RCM document, both confirming the RCM makes New Zealand's coins.
This is from the Canadian Mint's latest (2006) annual report: "Fulfillment of a contract to replace New Zealand's low denomination circulation coins. In 2006 New Zealand withdrew its alloy coinage and issued 295 million multi-ply coins produced by the Mint. The contract confirms the superior nature of the Mint's multi-ply technology, bringing the number of countries that use the Mint's plating technology to 12, including Canada." http://www.mint.ca/royalcanadianmintpublic/RcmImageLibrary.aspx?filename=RCM_AR06_E.pdf (PDF file, ~800K) Seems that the RCM makes the planchets and the coins ... Christian
Christian & Dopeuser,that information is only for the 2006 small coins.I have been informed by someone at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand who works in the currency department that the circulation coins for this year onwards will be struck at the Royal Australian Mint on the Royal Canadian Mint planchets.You can have a look through here; www.rbnz.govt.nz .New Zealand's Unc. & Proof coins will continue to be struck at both the Royal Australian Mint & the Royal Mint. Aidan.
The procedure sounds a little complicated to me, but this may very well be correct. Maybe this is also done for security reasons? The planchets that would be shipped from Canada to Australia are just that, partly processed metal, while a (base metal) coin is, well, a coin - with a face value that in general exceeds the metal value ... Christian
Christian,it is a common practice for one mint to produce the planchets ready for striking onto at another mint.The website at www.coinscan.com actually mentions that the Royal Canadian Mint has exported blank planchets to other mints. Aidan.
The US Mint has never had this done for them, but has done it for other countries in the past. They have done everything from the full service (producing dies, planchets, and finished coins) to just providing the planchets, to striking the coins made from other mints' dies. The last time they minted coins for a foreign country was the 1000 kroner Leif Ericson commemorative for Iceland in 2000 (we minted our own version of the commemorative too. There was a limited number of sets made that had both the US and Iceland commems together.)
Hi, just being inquisitive here - why are they not true dinosaurs? And is this the creature on the New Zealand 5 cent piece? OOps! should've read the whole post!! Interesting little beastie isn't it?
Matty,the New Zealand 5c. coins are no longer in circulation.As part of driving the 5c. coin out of circulation,the Reserve Bank of New Zealand decided to pull the old 10c.,20c.,& 50c. coins from circulation,& replace them with new coins. The 10c. is copper-plated steel like the Canadian 1c. coin,& the 20c. & 50c. coins is nickel-plated steel like the Canadian 5c. & 25c. coins. The 10c. & 50c. coins are not easy to distinguish,as they both have plain edges,but the 20c. coin is very well-liked,as it is similar in size to the 20 Euro-Cent coins. Aidan.
The word "dinosaur" is a more restrictive designation for animals than most people think. People tend to lump in a lot of extinct reptiles and other animals in with them. Whether there is such thing as a living dinosaur depends on how strict your definition is. However the two species of tuataras in New Zealand are the last surviving species of an entire order of reptiles (Sphenodontia) that especially thrived about 200 million years ago, so that's something. Anyway for the dinosaur/not a dinosaur explanation can check Wikipedia or any other reliable source on biology. Yes, they were on New Zealand's 5 cent coin, until the coin was discontinued last year. They're also on a 5 dollar silver coin New Zealand minted this year. Very interesting animal... a lot of my foreign coin collecting has to do with seeking out interesting animals that are depicted on them, lol... many countries use animals that are endemic to their countries or symbolic of them in some way. Can be fun collecting by theme and seeing how many different animals you can find on coins, or pick a single animal and find how many different types you can find that depict it. I've actually sought out depictions of dragons on coins for a while; mostly Asian of course, but did find a few nice European ones too, including a 2000 sterling silver proof 1 pound coin from the UK that depicts a Welsh dragon on the reverse (as well as Pistrucci's classic "St. George and the Dragon" design on the reverse of a 1951 crown.)
Troodon,the Tuatara is also on a 10c. medal-coin as well,which was being sold for NZ$9.90 at the post office. Aidan.
