The Coin Conference takes place in Lisbon 28-30 October, against a backdrop of considerable change (no pun intended) in the world of circulating coins. Not surprisingly, the agenda is busy and full of substance, reflecting the key challenges, and opportunities, that face issuers and producers.

The UK banking system is reported to be storing indefinitely around £4 million worth of unwanted copper coins.

Bank Al-Maghrib has issued new 50 dirham banknote, the third in its new series.

Commemorative coins are a common way for countries to mark their participation in international sporting events, particularly if they are hosting those events. Less so for commemorative banknotes, but they are becoming more popular.

The Bank of Mongolia has issued a limited edition 5,000 tugrik commemorative banknote to mark the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the central bank and the strengthening of the modern banking system in Mongolia. The banknotes are in the same design as the circulating 5000 tugrik but include a number of new security features.

The next edition of the Directory of Circulating Coins is currently being compiled, and is scheduled for publication this Autumn. First developed by the publishers of Currency News in 2014, the upcoming issue will be the fourth edition.

The Royal Mint has announced its results for 2023-24, which are in sharp contrast to the success of the previous year.

According to the Centrale Bank van Curaçao en Sint Maarten (CBCS), a significant milestone concerning the new Caribbean guilder has been reached, namely the printing of the first new banknotes.

Q&T Hi-Tech Polymer (Q&T), the latest arrival to the polymer substrate market, has announced that it has made remarkable progress since its establishment three years ago by securing its third contract for supply of Polysecure for the Vietnamese currency.

Researchers at the Centre for Pattern Recognition and Machine Intelligence (CENPARMI) at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada have utilised image-mining techniques and machine learning algorithms to identify flaws in counterfeit coins, enabling greater detection of fakes.