by Björn Schöpe
December 5, 2013 – The headquarters of European Central Mint (ECM) are in the Netherlands and the firm, founded in 2008, is said to have an impressive international clientele. At the World Money Fair 2012 the private mint had everybody’s attention when they made public a contract regarding the exclusive right of supplying the Central Bank of the former Dutch colony Suriname (CBvS) with bullion coins. A subsidiary in South America was responsible for delivering the raw material. Now, however, the company seems about to bust.
On November 7 both owners were arrested by Dutch police after a search of the factory. Until now no reason has been given, but according to rumours accusations of fraud stand behind this. People hinted at the very exclusive lifestyle of the company’s founder, the big subsidiary in Germany and allegedly unpaid bills.
The Central Bank of Suriname has distanced from ECM. Reportedly the mint did not stick by the agreement with the consequence that CBvS since long has been trying to nullify the contract.
On the ECM website there are no statements regarding the latest events. However, the links to the online shop are broken.
You will read all of the history here.