News

From 21 to 23 October 2015 the Coin Conference will take place in Madrid. The event is organised by Currency Publications and focuses on circulating coins as part of countries’ currency strategies. Here is the programme.

Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) has graded an exquisite specimen of the rare 1898 South Africa Pond with a “99” stamp. Graded NGC MS 62, it is one of just 20 examples certified by NGC.

One look at Coin Invest Trust’s new creation is sufficient to understand why the glasswork technique with its longstanding tradition is called “mille fiori” – “a thousand flowers”. The coin, a fascinating fusion of two very different materials, was produced for the Cook Islands.

The Perth Mint has announced the product releases for April 2015. The variety of themes of the coins is wide: a prehistoric dinosaur, the stunning Australian landscape and the Gallipoli campaign in 1915.

A spectacular 17th century pirate treasure is said to have been recovered off Madagascar. But the colourful finder awakens suspicion. Not everybody believes that ship and treasure of the infamous Captain Kidd really have been found.

In its long history the British Royal Mint has minted coins for many nations. The project ‘Around the World in 80 Coins’ demonstrates this vividly. An interactive map invites to browse and learn.

The 73rd edition of the “Handbook of United States Coins”, also known as the “Blue Book”, was published by Whitman Publishing. The book has been fully updated and expanded by 16 pages, including three new appendices and a helpful glossary of coin-collecting jargon.

With a GDP growth of 5.9% in 2014, India is one of the world’s fastest expanding economies. Not good enough, thinks the government. It hopes for the Hindu temple gold to be melted down to curb annual gold imports.

The Albukhary Foundation is providing significant support for a major new gallery to redisplay the collections of the Islamic world at the British Museum. The gallery will open in 2018.

Matteo Campagnolo and Klaus Weber have written a comprehensive and bibliophilic catalogue of Late Roman and Byzantine weights made of copper alloys. Ursula Kampmann has taken a look at it.