The focus for this month’s summary of news from central bank annual reports and other sources are Mozambique, South Africa, and the UK.

We have recently read that the US Treasury has confirmed that the production of US one cent coins will stop once the stocks of blanks have been used up. Respectively, on the other side of the Atlantic, the German National Cash Forum advocates rounding up or down to the nearest 5 euro cent for cash payments in Germany. It even proposes that the rounding rule (applied from the beginning in Finland) should be applied across Europe as uniformly as possible. Cash means both notes and coins. Therefore, the monitoring of both is important to the future of cash.

In China, commemorative banknotes are more than just banknotes; they serve as carriers of significant historical memories, reflections of Chinese culture, and symbols of national achievements. Because of this, the country sets a high store on quality standards for each note. Among the features most valued by collectors is the presence of consecutive serial numbers – the more unique and uninterrupted the sequence, the greater the collectible value.

At the Currency Conference in May, Bundesdruckerei presented visuals of the latest house note in its ExNihilo series. To do so, it used an ingenious new tool from Koenig & Bauer Banknote Solutions (KBBS) – Nota-Live™, which provides accurate live simulation of security documents, complete with realistic optically-varying effects, offering an exceptionally accurate and dynamic way to visualise the designs of these documents.

Perhaps this feels like a nugatory question. But when you consider that between 2003 and 2024 there were five times as many studies about the cost of cash than about its value, and that the cost studies were mostly based on numbers while the value studies were more theoretical or descriptive, then the question starts to make sense.

Amidst the gradual introduction of a new banknote series, Banco Central de Bolivia (BCB) has also launched a new bicentennial commemorative banknote, which was unveiled earlier this month at a special event attended by the country’s President at the Casa de Libertad in Sucre, a heritage museum and former church where the country signed its declaration of independence in 1825.

In this version of Banknote of the Month, we are focusing on some of the latest and best house notes, specifically those which have been released at the Currency Conference in May or the High Security Printing (HSP) Latin America conference in June.

The Royal Mint (TRM) has announced that just over 30 million new £1 coins are entering circulation across the UK, including 23.3 million of the final £1 coins featuring the effigy of the late Queen Elizabeth II.

In last month’s Currency News™ we mused on whether inviting the public to provide input into new currency designs was a good or a bad thing. It has undoubted benefits, but also carries risks.

The ultra-fast trading platform Fastex recently announced the release of a series of collectible currency notes, each backed 1:1 by FTN token, the platform’s native cryptocurrency. Unveiled in early July at the Harmony Meetup 7 in Yerevan, Armenia, the annual event that unites top minds from Web3 and iGaming, these notes feature banknote-grade anti-counterfeit features provided by Authentix.

Currency News™ will publish its third special supplement, ‘Concept Notes: Art, Design and Security in One’, in Spring 2026 – featuring the latest concept (house) notes from across the industry.

The Asia Cash Management Association (ACMA) is gearing up to play a pivotal role at the upcoming Asia Cash Cycle Seminar in Bali, Indonesia, 22-24 September.

As part of the pre-event agenda for Currency Research’s 2026 Banknote Conference in Washington DC (11-14 May 2026), the International Optical Technologies Association (IOTA) will host an in-depth workshop entitled Dynamic Security: The Science and Application of OVDs in Currency.

The Bank of Thailand has appointed Vitai Ratanakorn, the head of Thailand’s state-owned Government Savings Bank, as its next Governor, succeeding Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput.

What do you get when an industry leader, Giesecke+Devrient (G+D), brings together 175 central bankers / print works and 150 cash cycle experts from commercial banks and CITs into one room? A collective of knowledge, experience and focused thought that is willing to listen, challenge and reflect on the big issues affecting the sector.

Oberthur Fiduciaire was early to the environmental protection movement, having put in place its Earth365 strategy over 15 years ago, long before sustainability catapulted to the top of the cash industry’s agenda. The Earth365 strategy has provided a roadmap for everything the company does to minimise its impact, and that of its products, on the environment and, says the company, is now embedded in its corporate DNA.

The European Central Bank (ECB) has launched a public contest for the design of future euro banknotes – the next step in the euro banknote redesign process which will culminate in a decision in 2026.

Following hard on the heels of the National Bank of Belgium’s inauguration of its new cash centre (see CN June 2025), the Swiss National Bank has announced that it too will be moving its cash logistics from the current city centre location to a modern new purpose-built greenfield site.

At a time when central banks in many European countries are distancing themselves from the business of banknote production, and/or focusing on digital alternatives to cash, the Banque de France (BdF) is going in the opposite direction – doubling down not just on printing but also substrate production through major investments. It has also restructured and bolstered the cash distribution infrastructure, taking proactive steps to ensure that French citizens have access its products!