Innovation Takes Centre Stage at Coin Awards

The Coin Conference in Budapest played host to the International Association of Currency Affairs (IACA)'s 2026 Excellence in Currency Coin Awards. IACA runs the awards to promote and recognise excellence in coin production, processing, management, distribution, and related activities of the coin community.

All finalists were awarded and the winner in each category announced at a special ceremony during the conference. This year's award winners were chosen from a shortlist of finalists, which were then reviewed and scored by the IACA Judging Committee. The winners are listed below.

Best new circulating commemorative coin

The winner was the Royal Australian Mint for its '80 Years On: Remembering the Second World War' $2 coloured circulating commemorative, which pays tribute to the almost 1 million Australians who served during the conflict and the approximately 40,000 Australians who lost their lives.