Since the middle of 2012 the Danish paper money production and the mint have been merged. Hans Denkov tells us about the reasons for this step.

I know you expect us to write in English – but this is an article on a very special German term, which has a fixed meaning for the description of coins in auction catalogues. I will take up the cudgels for not using this term for certain minting processes if you are informing collectors and if you do not intend to confuse them.

Prestigious auction house Numismatica Ars Classica NAC AG held two of its most successful sales to date on October 17, 2012 with its auctions of ancient coins from the celebrated Hunt and Huntington collections.

Although the coins and medals from medieval and modern times did not fetch quite the same high prices as the ancient ones, the final prices were still of note and, some of them, sprang a surprise.

After this Gorny & Mosch auction it would seem that just about all coins and medals are currently very much in demand! The top piece turned out to be an aureus of Pompeius that sold for a very substantial 161,000 EUR.

In September The Perth Mint is issuing new Lunar Proof Coins in gold and silver and starts the new Birds of Australia series with a silver coin featuring the Red-Tailed Black-Cockatoo. The Young Collectors Animal Athletes series is continued with the Rhino Beetle.

Marking the centennial anniversary of the Hungarian Scout Association, the Magyar Nemzeti Bank issued a collector coin with a matching 100 forint denomination. The official logo of the organisation – a lily with the Hungarian holy crown – is depicted on the obverse.

The American Numismatic Association debuts the ‘Kids Zone,’ an interactive exhibit designed to teach children about money. The opening reception was held on Oct. 6 at the Edward C. Rochette Money Museum in Colorado Springs.

The electronic copy of the October issue of The Canadian Numismatic Journal, the official publication of the Association, will be available – live and free to all – on its Web site beginning on October 1, 2012.

A new volume collects the research papers of Richard Wright on ‘The Modern Coinage of China’, drawing them together from the various journals in which they were originally published between 1974 and 2003 into a newly set version.