Publishers of Numismatic News magazine, Krause Publications, has revealed the candidates for the 2016 Coin of the Year in each of the ten categories. Meant to represent achievements in design and marketing from the world’s mints and central banks, the awards are eagerly awaited, and hotly debated, no surprise given the breadth of choice and the closed nature of the nominations.

Due to be presented at next years World Money Fair in Berlin at the end of January, prior to that the coins will be reviewed by a worldwide panel of judges comprised of mint and museum officials, journalists and individual experts. They’ll choose a winner in each of the 10 individual categories. A second round of balloting will select the Coin of the Year from among the category winners. The coins are all from the 2014 calendar year.

There are 100 nominations, from 44 countries. These compete in the ten categories below, which each category getting its own winner. The ten winners then compete for the overall title of Coin of the Year. There’s always plenty of discussion on what should and shouldn’t be nominated, that’s the nature of this kind of award in any field, but it’s fair to say there are some worthy nominations in the mix again. Last years winner, Klimt from the Austrian Mint, is up again for the 2014 entrant in the series and Canada has an amazing 12 nominations overall, represented in all but one category.

However, we reckon much of the discussion will centre on what hasn’t been included. First and foremost amongst these is the utterly sublime proof 2014 Britannia from the Royal Mint. Designed by Jody Clark, we raved about this immediately on release, and almost everybody else did straight after, culminating in some quite hefty secondary prices. It absolutely amazes that this coin hasn’t been included in any category this year. We’d go as far as to say the decision makes a mockery of the awards. Equally mystifying is the omission of the beautiful Mineral Arts: Taj Mahal coin and any number of coins in the art-architectural genre. We’re sure you can add many of you’re own, but for us, these two designs in particular garnered almost universal praise and have been ignored. Baffling.

COUNTRIES WITH THE MOST NOMINATIONS

 

 

COUNTRY VALUE METAL TITLE
BELARUS 20 ROUBLES SILVER The First World War
CANADA $15 CND SILVER
Exploring Canada – The Arctic Expedition
CANADA $20 CND SILVER
100th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Empress of Ireland
FRANCE 10 EURO SILVER
World War I – Taxis de la Marne
GERMANY 10 EURO SILVER
300th anniversary of Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit’s invention of the mercury thermometer
GREECE 10 EURO SILVER Aristotle
ITALY 10 EURO SILVER
2,000th anniversary of Augustus Caesar’s death
PANAMA 0.5 BALBOA COPPER-NICKEL
100th anniversary of Panama Canal inauguration
SLOVAKIA 10 EURO SILVER
150th anniversary of birth of Jozef Murgas, wireless communication researcher
UKRAINE 5 HRYVNIAS SILVER
500th anniversary of the Battle of Orsha
COUNTRY VALUE METAL TITLE
CANADA $30 CND SILVER Aboriginal Veterans Monument
CHINA 10 YUAN SILVER Chinese Moon Landing
FRANCE 2 EURO BI-METALLIC D-Day
JAPAN 1,000 YEN SILVER
50th anniversary of Shinkansen Bullet Train
SOUTH KOREA 50,000 WON SILVER
Pope Francis’ visit to Korea
LATVIA 5 EURO SILVER
Baltic Way – Latvia Freedom
POLAND 10 ZLOTYCH SILVER
Canonization of Pope John Paul II
PORTUGAL 2 EURO BI-METALLIC
25th of April, 1974 Carnation Revolution
RUSSIA 5 ROUBLE NICKEL-PLATED STEEL
Battle of Leningrad
SOUTH AFRICA 200 RAND SILVER
20 years of democracy and freedom
COUNTRY VALUE METAL TITLE
AUSTRIA 100 EURO GOLD
Wild Boar
CANADA $200 CND GOLD
Thunderbird
GREECE 200 EURO GOLD
Aristotle
HUNGARY 50,000 FORINT GOLD
Golden Florin of Queen Mary
ISRAEL 10 NEW SHEQALIM GOLD
Jacob’s Dream
POLAND 200 ZLOTYCH GOLD
Olympics Skating
PORTUGAL 2.5 EURO GOLD
Portuguese Ethnographic Series – The Yokes
SLOVAKIA 10 EURO GOLD
Prince Rastislav of Moravia
SWITZERLAND 50 FRANC GOLD
100th anniversary of Swiss National Parks
UNITED STATES $5 USD GOLD
Baseball Hall of Fame
COUNTRY VALUE METAL TITLE
AUSTRALIA $5 AUD SILVER
Victoria Cross
AUSTRIA 20 EURO SILVER
Fall of the Berlin Wall
CANADA $20 CND SILVER Bobcat
COOK ISLANDS $5 CID SILVER Moldavite Impact
FINLAND 10 EURO SILVER 100th anniversary of birth of Ilmari Tapiovaara, Interior Architecture Designer
IRELAND 15 EURO SILVER 100th anniversary of death of John Phillip Holland, Submarine Inventor
KIRIBATI $5 KIRIBATI SILVER
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
LATVIA 5 EURO SILVER
White Book
MONGOLIA 1,000 TOGROG SILVER
Chinggis Khan Antiqued Portrait
SWITZERLAND 20 FRANCS SILVER
Jassen Card Game
COUNTRY VALUE METAL TITLE
AUSTRALIA $1 AUD SILVER
Fireworks over Sydney Harbor
BELARUS 20 ROUBLES SILVER
UNESCO World Heritage Site – Mir Castle
CANADA $20 CND SILVER
Maple Leaf Canopy
ESTONIA 10 EURO SILVER
150th anniversary of birth of Miina Hermann, Composer
FINLAND 20 EURO SILVER
100th anniversary of birth of Tove Jansson, Author
FRANCE 10 EURO SILVER
Eiffel Tower
IRELAND 10 EURO SILVER
John McCormack, Irish Tenor
MONACO 10 EURO SILVER
Hercules with Bow and Arrow
RUSSIA 3 ROUBLE SILVER
Sochi Winter Olmypics – Curling
UNITED STATES $1 USD SILVER
Baseball Hall of Fame
COUNTRY VALUE METAL TITLE
BELGIUM 2 EURO BI-METALLIC
The Great War Centenary
CANADA $2 CND BI-METALLIC
Family seeing Father off to War
FINLAND 2 EURO BI-METALLIC
100th anniversary of birth of Ilmari Tapiovaara, Interior Architecture Designer
GREAT BRITAIN £2 UKP BI-METALLIC
World War I – Lord Kitchener Recruiting Poster
ITALY 2 EURO BI-METALLIC
450th anniversary of Galileo Galilei’s Birth
JAPAN 500 YEN BI-METALLIC
60th anniversary of Ishikawa Prefecture
LATVIA 2 EURO BI-METALLIC
Female head in national costume
NETHERLANDS 1 EURO BI-METALLIC
New King Willem-Alexander
POLAND 2 ZLOTE COPPER-ALUMINIUM-NICKEL
Canonization of Pope John Paul II
RUSSIA 1 ROUBLE NICKEL-PLATED STEEL
New Rouble Symbol
COUNTRY VALUE METAL TITLE
AUSTRIA 25 EURO SILVER/NIOBIUM Evolution
CANADA $5 CND SILVER/NIOBIUM Rose
FALKLAND ISLANDS £2 UKP BI-METALLIC
100th anniversary of the Battle of the Falkland Islands
FINLAND 5 EURO BI-METALLIC Loon
GERMANY 2 EURO BI-METALLIC
Lower Saxony – St. Michael’s Church
GREECE 2 EURO BI-METALLIC
150th anniversary of the Ionian Islands Transfer
MALTA 2 EURO BI-METALLIC
50th anniversary of Independence
POLAND 5 ZLOTYCH BI-METALLIC
25 years of freedom
SINGAPORE $5 SINGAPORE BI-METALLIC
Latent image of 2014
SLOVAKIA 2 EURO BI-METALLIC
10th anniversary of entry to the European Union
COUNTRY VALUE METAL TITLE
AUSTRIA 50 EURO GOLD
Gustav Klimt – Judith II
BELARUS 20 ROUBLES SILVER
Legend of the Bullfinch
BRITISH ANTARCTIC TERRITORY £2 UKP SILVER
Orca Whales
COOK ISLANDS $5 CID SILVER
Bees
FRANCE 10 EURO SILVER
Rooster
GREAT BRITAIN £10 UKP SILVER
Year of the Horse
ITALY 10 EURO SILVER
Presidency of the European Union
KAZAKHSTAN 100 TENGE SILVER
Gilt Swan
RUSSIA 3 ROUBLES SILVER
Sochi Winter Olympics – Snowboarding
TURKEY 50 LIRA SILVER
600 years of Turkey-Polish Friendship
COUNTRY VALUE METAL TITLE
CANADA $5 CND SILVER
Bullion Maple Leaf – Scannable security features
CANADA $20 CND SILVER
River rapids – Transition effect colorization
COOK ISLANDS $5 CID SILVER
Anders Celsius – Operational temperature gauge
KAZAKHSTAN 500 TENGE SILVER
Taikazan cauldron – Dodecahedron shape
NIUE $15 NZD SILVER
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet – Entire play in microtext insert
PORTUGAL 2.5 EURO SILVER
100th anniversary of Portugal’s commemorative coins – Offset gold on silver coin
SAMOA $1 SAMOA BRASS
50 years of Mars Missions – Coin floats over stand using electromagnetism
SOLOMON ISLANDS $10 SOL SILVER
Solar System – Seven different metals used
TUVALU $1 TVD SILVER
100th anniversary of first appearance of Charlie Chaplin’s The Tramp
UNITED STATES 50 CENTS COPPER-NICKEL
Copper-Nickel, Baseball Hall of Fame – First cupped clad coin
COUNTRY VALUE METAL TITLE
CANADA $1 CND SILVER
Female Riveters
CANADA $20 CND SILVER
50th anniversary of Canadian UN peacekeeping in Cyprus
FINLAND 10 EURO SILVER
Literacy – Diverse communication symbols
KAZAKHSTAN 500 TENGE SILVER
Mother
LITHUANIA 50 LITU SILVER
Baltic Way – 25th anniversary of independence
NIUE $1 NZD SILVER
Always with you – Two coins form single heart
POLAND 10 ZLOTYCH SILVER
100th anniversary of birth of Jan Karski – Smuggled Holocaust evidence to Allies in hollow key
SOUTH AFRICA 1 RAND SILVER
Nelson Mandela
UNITED STATES $10 USD GOLD
Eleanor Roosevelt
UKRAINE 20 HRYVNIAS SILVER
70th anniversary of Ukraine’s liberation from fascist invaders