Here's a question that I have about when countries issue coins, especially new denominations: Do central banks worldwide have to, or customarily, report the issue of new coins and notes to an international organization or send out issue notices to other central banks notifying them of their country's new coin denomination? I am wondering whether a coin issued in (for example) "Country A" gets released before another country's coin ("Country B") and both coins are of the same diameter, weight, and composition (electrical resistance for counterfeit detection in machines). Would Country A be able to complain to an international body for adjudication or just a simple opinion (and leave it to the two countries to settle the problem)? If so, what is the name of that international body, and how long has it been handing out judgements or giving opinions on such cases?
I don't think there is an official" clearinghouse for such information, but there is a informal alliance of Mint Directors (read as they do keep in contact with each other) that probably tries to keep up with such information to try and keep from having interference between each others coins. There is no international ruling body that tells government mints what they can or can't do.
Thanks. I was wondering if the "International Banking Federation" is such a body, but looking at their "bio," it doesn't seem that this is one of their functions. http://www.ibfed.org.uk/ If there was a dispute, I'm guessing then that it might have to be "settled" at the International Court of Arbitration (ICA)? Actually, the ICA doesn't give "rulings," just "findings" from my understanding. Then the two parties should agree to the findings, like a gentlemen's agreement.
Mark, I can’t provide anything regarding the question you posed, but I did read your article in the Journal of East Asian Numismatics. Congratulations on a great job! Cal
Thanks kindly! In case others are interested, here are the links to my other articles that JEAN was nice enough to publish: https://issuu.com/jeandigitala1/docs/the_seventh_issue_of_jean p. 7 https://issuu.com/jeandigitala1/docs/the_fourteenth_issue_of_jean p. 42 https://issuu.com/jeandigitala1/docs/the_seventeenth_issue_of_jean p. 66 As to my question, I know that South Korea notified the central banks of several countries around the world when issuing its new commemorative coins back in the 1970s and 1980s.... I just thought there must be (or had been) a place where countries could check the upcoming coin issues so that they could avoid trouble with other countries.
I'll have a look at the other articles too. I have to admit that I don't collect east Asian coins ... central Asia is as far east as I've gone so far, but things could change. Regarding your OP question: I would guess most countries aren’t that concerned if a new coin issue by another country happens to match physically a coin that is currently in use inside their own borders and might be used in vending machines. Reasons are: 1. Vending machines are a very small part of the economy. 2. Most vending machines are owned by private and semi-private companies and not the government. 3. Coins are small denominations compared to currency. 4. Not a lot of foreign coins are brought into a country compared to the country’s own coins in circulation. 5. Some vending machines may incorporate automated visual inspection as well as physical methods for the go-no-go decision. If foreign coins became a significant problem, visual methods are reasonably inexpensive to incorporate in future vending machines. They are already in universal use in machines that accept currency. Cal
Good question - I do not know if there is such an organization. These days many world mints don't even produce planchets themselves. Australia for instance imports planchets from KOMSCO, Korea if I am not wrong. Just to add into some interesting facts - when the British had colonies all around the world, many of the coins at that time were struck on similar size planchets. For instance Australia, New Zealand and many Pacific islands were struck with same planchets. To some extent I believe Malaysia and Singapore did share some similarities with some denominations. This is very evident with the random coins that come out in vending machines, i.e. Malaysian 20 sen would pass out as Australian 10 cents.
I think @Conder101 nailed it. All of the mint upper-level people are part of the same (small) community. They all know and have to work closely with the same people. Unfortunately, many of the decisions are made by lawmakers and they don't always know/think/care...
What about the "Mint Directors Conferences?" I know they give out prizes for "the most innovative coin" or "most beautiful coin" at MDC. Is this a venue where they share such info? I wonder...
