Commonwealth Mint remains manufacturer of Alderney coins

[eurocoin]

The Commonwealth Mint will remain the manufacturer of the coins of Alderney until at least March 2023. The contract that the Commonwealth Mint has with the government of Alderney was due to expire in March 2022. The government of Alderney has however decided to extend the agreement with 1 year to "provide continuity in a difficult period with some important coin issues planned in 2022". Early next year, the government of Alderney will hold a tender to find a manufacturer of the coins of Alderney for the period after March 2023.

The extension of the contract is for a shorter period than what the Commonwealth Mint had hoped for. They had requested a 5 year extension firstly due to COVID considerations, and secondly, as the longer period was considered to be more suitable.

Commonwealth Mint has been producing coins for Alderney since 2017, when it won a 5-year contract following a competitive tender. Prior to that, the Royal Mint manufactured the coins of Alderney.

[eurocoin]

I wonder when the tender that they announced last year will be held. In the summer secret talks were held with Commonwealth Mint about the coinage contract. The Government of Alderney did not reply to questions about the tender. It is not that long anymore until March 2023...

[MCz]

It's already March 2023... I regularly check websites of distributors of Commonwealth Mint products (Jubilee Mint, Harrington Byrne, Hattons of London): there are new coins with Charles III from Ascencion Island, Solomon, Tristan da Cunha but no new coins from Alderney. Do you know anything new in this topic?

[eurocoin]

I have emailed the government of Alderney multiple times over the course of the last year (also recently) for more information but received no reply. As far as I am aware no tender has taken place. I will probably call them on Friday if I have not received a reply by then.

The fact that the contract 2023-2028 was secretly discussed with one of the companies that would likely be a bidder in the tender does not bode well though.

[eurocoin]

The coinage contract was discussed again in a recent meeting of the government of Alderney. It seems that they have not taken a decision yet, and because of it now miss out on the coronation, a likely very profitable event.

[eurocoin]

In the summer of last year, allegedly the intention of the government of Alderney was to award a new 5-year contract to Commonwealth Mint in return for a 33% increase in royalty payments (from 150,000 to 200,000 GBP per year). This, despite their earlier anouncement that they would hold a public tender after the current contract expired in March 2023. Why the contract hasn't been awarded yet remains unknown.

[eurocoin]

There are problems with the coin approval process in Alderney, which causes a further delay in the issuace of new coins for the island. The Lieutenant-Governor of Guernsey, the representative of the Crown on the Channel Islands, was unsatisfied with the way this was currently done and requested the government of Alderney to change the process.

[MCz]

I'm not surprised about. Looks like no control on issued values/metals/mintage numbers. When Royal Mint was the producer of Alderney coins, there were usually few issues each year with copper-nickel, silver and gold coins. For some more important events, bigger denomination were produced too but this was issued usually at once, the full range of coins. From time to time, the bigger series for collectors also issued (British Cars 2009, Kings & Queens 2007).
Since 2017, we can observe also few different coin images, but produced in multiple variants and metals:
silver 1-2-5 Pounds, gold 1-2-5 Pounds, gold 1/4, 1/2, 1, 2, 5 Sovereigns, silver-plated 5 Pounds, gold is 9ct, 22ct or 24ct... all issued individually or in set of 3 pieces or in limited PNC. Mintage numbers on certificates are not worth a lot as they refers only to the current edition and the same coin can be issued in other box with another mintage... And for bigger values (>5oz) it's even more mess and practially no rules about what denomination has what weight/composition.

Hard to catalogue all of these, specially that if you ask Commonwealth Mint or the official distributors (Jubilee Mint, H&B etc.), they usually not answer at all. I'm Alderney referee on Numista and I'm trying to be up-to-date but it's not possible. When I google for current or recent auctions on different Auctionners websites, I always find something new issued few years ago.

[eurocoin]

Alderney and Commonwealth Mint sign new coin contract

Commemorative coins licenced by the States of Alderney will return to full production next year after a new contract was signed earlier this month with the Commonwealth Mint (CWM).

Only five commemorative coins have been issued in the last two years which means royalty income to the Alderney Treasury has fallen short for 2023. However, the revised contract terms suggest that this will be recovered over the life of the contract. Under the new contract, CWM will issue 10 designs a year starting in 2024.

From 2024, a minimum annual guaranteed figure has been agreed and expected royalty figures are an improvement on previous levels due to the aspiration of CWM to open up the international market, particularly the USA.

Policy & Finance Committee chairman Nigel Vooght said: "We look forward to a reinvigorated relationship with CWM that will provide the Island with increasing revenues in the coming years.

"In addition, we have included in the contract that we can issue information on a coin issue, specifications and number of coin sales two years after the date of a featured coin, instead of the current arrangement in which a ceiling figure is published and rarely achieved. This information will be available for cataloguing and will enable collectors to understand how rare each coin is."

[MCz]

Thank you eurocoin for this info.
I like the most the last part of your post ;-) As a Numista referee for Alderney coins, this is what I really need to keep the catalogue up to date

For 2023 - I noticed zero coins... For 2022, we have at least 40 different coins issued with 10 different designs, including 4 different designs for Unbreakable devotion, strengh, wisdom, leadership; other six motifs are: Four Graces, Queen on throne, Crowned number 70, 'EIIR' Cypher, Rememberance, Rememberance and RNLI Roy Barker and Queen. Only last two themes are not related to the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.

[eurocoin]

Yes, I also don't know why they mentioned that only 5 commemorative coins were released within the last 2 years. And it is indeed good that now also sales figures will be published for the Alderney coins (albeit with a 2 year delay), instead of only issue limits.

No word about the tender that should have taken place..

[eurocoin]

For the first time since 2022, Alderney has now released a coin again. Interestingly, they seem to have removed the abbreviation C.I. (Channel Islands) from the coins.

[MCz]

And the second one 2024 coin from Alderney - Bald Eagle: