Outsourced minting?

reversethong

Does anyone have a list of what countries outsource their coin minting to other mints? What countries do the US, Canadian and Australian mints produce for? I ask this for two reasons. One I want to compare their work on other series and second, I'm interested in some World coins, but I want to avoid outsourced mints.

One other note, how is the Euro coin production and minting handled and do they make any bullion Euro or have plans?


Thanks!!!!

newsman

There are many countries that have outsourced their coin production to other mints. The U.S. mint has made coins for more than a dozen countries, as has the British Royal Mint, the Royal Canadian Mint and others. Many Caribbean countries used the Franklin Mint in the United States, and the Heaton mint in England has also struck issues for several countries.

You should get your hands on a Krause catalog -- that's the best way to keep track.

Sapyx

Most countries, especially the smaller ones in Africa, South America and the Pacific, are too small to have their own mint; for the tiny amount of coins they actually need, it's far cheaper for them to outsource.

As for the euro, the situation is: most countries that had a mint and minted their own coins prior to joining the euro, continue to operate those same mints, producing euros instead. The European Central Bank, in consultation with the national banks, issues coinage quotas that each country is supposed to issue; if that country's mints can't meet the quota, or the country doesn't have a mint, then the coinage order is outsourced.

Greece is an excellent example. Greece joined the euro at the last minute, and the Hellenic Mint had no hope of hurriedly striking enough coins to make quota. So other European mints chipped in: Spain, France and Finland all made Greek coins dated 2002. You can tell the foreign-sourced coins by a small, secret mintmark hidden inside one of the stars near the date: E for Espana (Spain), F for France and S for Suomi (Finland). All these foreign-made coins also bear the mintmark of the National Bank of Greece, too - apparently the Greeks were embarrassed at needing outside help, and wished to make it not quite so obvious.

Most countries in the Eurozone issue both circulation coins and non-circulation commemoratives; these non-circulating commemoratives may (or may not) be in the form of bullion coins, though I don't believe any of the current euro members issue gold or silver "bullion grade" coins in "bullion quantity". There aren't any plans to issue "generic" euro coins, either for circulation or for bullion.

reversethong

Thanks fro the info guys. Who makes coins for the Vatican and Iceland? Also, beyond Mexico, what South American country has a well developed mint?

coinpictures

It's not just a recent phenomenon either. The Heaton mint produced coinage for other countries going back into the mid-19th century (earlier?). I've had Romanian, Liberian, Colombian, and Costa Rican pieces from the 1800s all minted at the Heaton mint.

The U.S. minted quite a bit of Philippines material in the early-mid 20th century.

WillieBoyd2

The US mints have made many coins for foreign countries, from Australia to Venezuela, including
China and Mexico.
Among the best known are the World War II issues for Australia, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

See:
Domestic and Foreign Coins Manufactured by Mints of the United States 1793-1980,
published by Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Mint, 1981, has mintage figures.

Foreign Coins struck at United States Mints by Charles G. Altz and E. H. Barton,
published by Whitman Publishing Company, 1965.

newsman

<< <i>Thanks fro the info guys. Who makes coins for the Vatican and Iceland? Also, beyond Mexico, what South American country has a well developed mint? >>



Vatican coins are made by the Rome mint in Italy. And Santiago in Chile, along with the Rio de Janeiro mint in Brazil, are South American mints with long histories. Santiago has minted coins for other countries, but I don't recall any foreign coins being made in Rio.

spoon

Tons and tons of current and former issues have been produced at mints outside of the country where the coins were intended for circulation. It's funny how we don't often realize this since it's not always clearly apparent. Not all foreign made issues have mintmarks denoting them as such, and even when present, without a reference mintmarks are just cryptic little design elements. The task is usually much easier with banknotes. With notes there are the famous examples of Thomas De La Rue and the American Banknote Corporation. Almost always the printer's full name was (but not so much anymore) fully spelled out on the note.

Here's an Excel spreadsheet of all foreign coins produced by the US Mint (I originally found that here, but don't remember who created it, apologies)
And here's an index of foreign coins produced by the Royal Canadian Mint. (Is anyone here putting together a collection of these? I often hear of folks trying to complete the US list, but never the Canadian one.)

There may be other such comprehensive lists out there, but I can't find them online. Beyond these it'll just take research into the specific areas. Krause is a good start.

DorkGirl

I'm at the tail end of doing a US minted foreign coin collection for 1943 and 1944. It's tough here at the very end to find any examples. Just in those 2 years there are almost 100 coins, excluding the US coins. It's a very diverse and beautiful series, very enjoyable.

BCNumismatics

The coins of New Zealand have traditionally been struck at the Royal Mint (London to 1967 & Llantrisant since 1968) & the Royal Australian Mint in Canberra,but in recent years,other mints,such as the South African Mint in Pretoria & the Royal Canadian Mint,Winnipeg,have also been used.Since the change over to small coins in late 2006 in New Zealand,the Royal Canadian Mint,Winnipeg has been used.

In 2008,Cyprus' Euro coins were struck at the Finnish Mint in Helsinki,& Malta's Euro coins were struck at the Monnaie de Paris at Pessac in southern France.The Maltese 2009 10th. Anniversary of the European Monetary Union commemorative 2 Euros were struck at the Royal Dutch Mint in Utrecht.

New Zealand does have its own mint,but this is a private mint like the Pobjoy Mint & The Commonwealth Mint.It has never entered into a contract with the Reserve Bank of New Zealand to strike New Zealand coins.It does strike medal-coins for various British Commonwealth Pacific Island states,especially Fiji,the Cook Islands,& Tuvalu.

Aidan.