Coin life cycle

[Pabitra]

Sure, I assumed we were indeed talking about the lifecycle of circulation coinage. So what's your point?

I do not know the technical terms to note a specific event in a coin/denominations life. And neither do I invent terms and then claim them as universal facts. That said, if i do come across any relevant numismatic articles of interest on this topic, I will share it here.

You may provide the details of the workshop in Rome. If they have a webinar, maybe people will find that of use. Or if you are attending it, then I'm sure members here will be interested in your insights gained. Otherwise, mentioning it for the sake of it is just meaningless

Here is the link

Currency Research - The Coin Conference

[Pabitra]

I don't claim to know your background, so I will refrain from commenting on the "authoritative-ness" of this publication

Authority is The Royal Mint, as indicated by the publisher.
Should you doubt the publisher or the Royal mint then you can always contact  them for any clarification.

[eurocoin]

I can imagine you liked to be involved in a project like this. However I do think you should be more critical about the things they do. They sell these books, which are really not very special or interesting, at extreme prices. Prices that are in no way justified by the content of the book which is, as I have earlier pointed out, not without mistakes either. Regardless of what some Royal Mint employee may have said (under certain circumstances), I really have no idea how a book like that would be of any use to a mint.

For some time I have been a member of Currency Research myself to see the organisation from the inside. Therefore I know unlike anyone else that it is really mainly about grabbing money while offering very little in return. Their expertise is very questionable.

[Figleaf]

This discussion reminds me of the "obverse - reverse" discussion. Opinions galore, but no agreement on the terms. In that fruitless and rather pointless discussion, the conclusion was to call them "one side" and "the other side". In that vein, I suggest "new issue" and "demonetisation", keeping in mind that what happens between the two has no regularity*, so there's no need for a term to describe it.

* some examples: some coins see no circulation (Thailand), some are not intended for circulation (Finland, 1 and 2 cent), some are imitations of foreign coins, some circulate in another area only (lion dollars), some are stores of wealth but rarely accepted as payments (early 20th century gold), some circulate when they are forbidden to circulate (Mexico).

Peter

[Pabitra]

I can imagine you liked to be involved in a project like this. However I do think you should be more critical about the things they do. They sell these books, which are really not very special or interesting, at extreme prices. Prices that are in no way justified by the content of the book which is, as I have earlier pointed out, not without mistakes either. Regardless of what some Royal Mint employee may have said (under certain circumstances), I really have no idea how a book like that would be of any use to a mint.

For some time I have been a member of Currency Research myself to see the organisation from the inside. Therefore I know unlike anyone else that it is really mainly about grabbing money while offering very little in return. Their expertise is very questionable.

The prices may appear to be high for individual collectors but appear to be fine for institutional buyers. The proof is that they continue to publish it, indicating the financial viability of the project.

The mistakes could be either temporal or your opinion. The temporal aspect is that the data in the book is frozen about 4-5 months before the issue to provide for compilation, editing, printing and distribution. In the dynamic field as circulation coins, some data is likely to be outdated by the time printed volume hits the market. Also what you might consider as mistake, could be error on your part too. In case , you have reported some errors, they might have been taken care of in next edition.

The fact they continue to sell this book ( and few others too) and still survive in market, itself speaks highly of their expertise as well as correctness of their business models.

I personally feel that they are doing an excellent job in an area where no one had courage to enter.

The pricing is a function of cost and in specialised areas, where the economies of scale may not be there, the printed items tend to cost more hence get priced higher. In addition, since the information contained in such books is likely to become outdated, this title should be considered perishable. This adds to the price.

The Royal mint is not represented by any lowly employee but sponsors advertisement on the last cover page and I have reasons to believe that it costs them considerable amount, approval of which is much above any or some normal employee's financial powers.

Regarding use of such book, I was made to understand that this book continues to get sponsored by quite a few mints which have substantial foreign business.

The Marketing Division uses it to keep track of changes as well as likelihood of nations looking for new coins series. The concept of "cold call" in marketing is based on data available in this book.

The design division of circulation coins uses it for comparing neighbourhood countries coins to ensure that the mixing does not take place.

One must not forget that out of about 50 mints worldwide, only about 7-8 have sound international business pipeline.

Many mints tried to enter international business but failed. I can count Japan, Korea, Netherlands, India etc among them

The international business is so cut throat that in about last 8 years, business of Sri Lanka has moved from Finland to the Royal Mint to Kremnica.

For such business to be sustained, such data is invaluable so the book has long life to live, even though it may be of no use to a collector, in general.

[<k>]

I forgot to note the date and document from which I took this extract. I imagine it must date to some time around 1978 or 1979, when the Royal Mint (UK) was considering the introduction of the 20 pence coin and round pound coin, as well as the withdrawal and demonetisation of the old sixpence and the decimal half penny. It discusses the constraints to be taken into consideration when planning the issue of a new coin or denomination.