Germany's mints

[Bimat]

Sad to hear that

It's surprising that Germany,in spite of having 5 mints,can not manage to keep their own coins circulating in market

[Figleaf]

It's surprising that Germany,in spite of having 5 mints,can not manage to keep their own coins circulating in market

It may be the other way around. Because Germany has 5 mints, they have tried to keep them all busy, striking far too many "exploded map" coins in the process, which would hurt even more if the economy retracts. This would explain the lack of new coins. As stocks are piling up, someone wil have to start asking the question whether 5 mints are really necessary. I think A (Berlin) and D (München) are untouchable, but the others may be in for a nasty surprise ...

Peter

[chrisild]

Actually we have four mints in Germany, but five minting facilities. Each of the mints is state owned and operated. Of course the federal government could one day say "we do not give any more orders to the mint of XYZ state", but that would be difficult to do, politically.

There has been some discussion about whether the Baden-Württemberg Mint (facilities in Stuttgart/F and Karlsruhe/G) might one day close one of its locations. The Stuttgart facility has the biggest share (24 percent) when it comes to the production of circulation coins; Munich/D and Hamburg/J have 21 percent each; Berlin/A 20 percent; Karlsruhe 14 percent.

And sure, you find coins with the updated map in circulation. No 10 cent pices though (for sets only so far); about 200 million 20 ct pieces; no 50 ct and no €1 pieces (except sets); about 37 million €2 coins, plus the €2 commems which since 2007 have had the new map too. Now you may say that is not much, but keep in mind that those coins, except for sets, are not made for collectors. Why make coins that are not needed?

Christian

[Bimat]

The combined mintage figures for all the German commemorative coins issued so far are 10million+,if I am not wrong.So,at-least theoretically,they should circulate,that's what I mean...

Aditya

[chrisild]

Yes, once in a while I come across such a €2 commem. (Imagine a long pause after each word. ) Every commemorative issue has a mintage of about 30 million, that gets us to about 150 million commemorative €2 pieces with the newer map. On the other hand, there are about 1.2 billion €2 coins with the 2002 date alone. Also, I think that quite a few of those "special" pieces are put aside, collected, swapped ...

Christian