The world's oldest coin designs still being issued

[<k>]

Here I will deal only with old designs that are found on regular circulating coins that are still being issued.

I will NOT include old designs that appear on special commemorative circulation coins.

I will also exclude designs of coats of arms and national emblems.


The earliest designs that I will include are those from the 1970s.

I believe that most countries have updated their designs at least once since the 1970s.

However, some designs probably still exist from the 1980s.

I will show only one or two of these.

[<k>]

Switzerland.

Probably the oldest designs still circulating are those from Switzerland.

Many of them date from 1850.




Modern coins of Switzerland.

See:  Coinage of Switzerland.

[<k>]

EUROPE

Switzerland is the only European country whose coins fit this topic.

There are two main reasons for that.

The first is the collapse of communism and the Soviet Union.

The newly democratic states issued new national coinages.

The second reason was the advent of the euro.

The new currency began circulating in 2002.

Many national coinages and currencies were swept away.

Twenty-six European countries now use the euro.

Additionally, Europe still retains a few monarchies.

When the monarch changes, the coinage usually does too.

[<k>]

Canada.

Canada introduced its current series in 1937.

The 1 cent coin was demonetised at the end of 2012.

The coat of arms on the 50 cents was updated in 1959.


Otherwise, the three designs seen above still grace the coinage.

The schooner design on the 10 cents has been modified.

However, it remains the same essential design.

See:  Canadian coinage since 1937.

[<k>]

Cuba.

The designs of the lower denominations date from 1915!

A new design series is desperately needed.


However, Cuba remains a communist dictatorship.

Such countries usually maintain very conservative coinage policies.

[<k>]

Suriname.

The current designs of Suriname were introduced in 1962. They show various motifs.

See:  Milestones in the coinage of Suriname.

[<k>]

Aruba 2016 set.

Aruba seceded from the Netherlands Antilles in 1986.

It issued its coinage that same year.


Aruba is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Aruba adopted the portrait of King Willem-Alexander in 2014.

Apart from that, its coin designs have not changed.

It has seven coins but essentially only three coin designs.


Most other countries have changed their coin designs since the 1980s.

So, Aruba, it's surely time for a change.

See:  Milestones in the coinage of Aruba.

[<k>]

East Caribbean States.

The East Caribbean States are members of a currency union.

These designs were taken from those of the British Caribbean Territories.

That currency union's coins were introduced in 1955.


A new coinage is planned for 2027.


Queen Elizabeth II died in 2022.

Her portrait will be replaced by the ECCU logo.

The ECCU is the East Caribbean currency union.

RELATED TOPICS

Coins of the British Caribbean Territories - Eastern Group

Coins of the East Caribbean Territories

Coinage of the East Caribbean States

[<k>]

Belize.

Most of the designs of the current coins of Belize date back to 1973 and 1974.

Even older is the crowned portrait of the Queen by Cecil Thomas.

That portrait appears on the denominations lower than a dollar.

It dates back to 1953 and is no longer used by any other country or territory.


Queen Elizabeth II died in 2022.

Belize has now issued new banknotes that replace her portrait.

The banknotes depict national heroes instead.

I expect that the coinage will also be updated later this year.




The dollar design dates from 1990.

RELATED TOPICS 

Belize and the death of Queen Elizabeth II

Belize: national heroes oust UK monarch on new banknotes

[<k>]

Honduras.

Here the designs on the 5 and 10 centavos were first used in 1931.

The portrait of Lempira on the 20 and 50 centavos coins was first used in 1978.

Let's hope for a new series soon, with four different thematic designs.

See:  Lempira, national hero of Honduras.

[<k>]

Guatemala.

Guatemala's current series originates from 1949.

Newer versions of the same themes now grace the three lowest denominations.

See:  Guatemalan and Paraguayan variations.

[<k>]

Panama.

Vasco Nuñez de Balboa first appeared on a Panamanian coin in 1904.

He is regarded as a national hero and founding father of Panama.


The current portrait of Balboa dates from 1930.

It appears on four of the current coin series.



The Panamanian currency is called the Balboa.

However, Balboa allegedly used dogs to brutally execute indigenous people.

Will his good reputation survive in these censorious times?

RELATED TOPICS 

Coats of arms, colonial vestiges, and their potential numismatic effects

National heroes of Panama

Vasco Núñez de Balboa, national hero of Panama

[<k>]

Chile.

Bernardo O'Higgins is considered a national hero of Chile.

His portrait first appeared on Chile's circulation coins in 1942.


Four coins of the current series feature his portrait.

Surely it is now time for a change.

Few other countries feature old military heroes these days.

See:  Bernardo O'Higgins, national hero of Chile.

[<k>]

Jamaica.

The designs portraying statesmen Manley and Garvey date from the 1970s.

RELATED TOPICS 

Decimal coinage of Jamaica

National heroes of Jamaica

[<k>]

Bermuda.

The oldest designs on Bermuda's current coins date back to 1970.

See:  Modern coinage of Bermuda.