Krause Publications, a leading publisher of coin and paper money books, magazines, and other reference products, has announced the winners of its 2013 Coin of the Year Awards.
Ninety-nine coins issued in 2011 by mints and national banks worldwide were nominated for the 2013 Coin of the Year Awards, honoring coins displaying the highest achievement in theme, design and marketing. Judges picked winners in 10 categories. From these, they will select an overall Coin of the Year winner. The 10 category winners for 2013 are as follows:
The award of Most Historically Significant coin was given to the National Bank of Kyrgyzstan for their 10 Som, silver coin commemorating the Silk Road. (KM #48)
Best Contemporary Event coin was awarded to the Austrian Mint for its 25 Euro silver and niobium coin celebrating the evolution of robotics. (KM #3204)
The South African Mint was awarded the honor of Best Gold coin, for it’s 50 Rand gold featuring stylized meerkats. (KM #511)
The Royal Canadian Mint claimed the award for Best Silver coin for its 20 Dollar silver coin, which features a canoe in the water and it’s reflection. (KM #1176)
Monnaie de Paris will take home the award for Best Crown. It is the second issue in a new series called “From Clovis to Republic – 1500 Years of French History”. It was created by famed fashion designer Christian Lacroix, and features King Charlemagne. (KM #1802)
Best Trade coin was awarded to the National Bank of Lithuania for a 1 Litas copper-nickel coin honoring the sport of basketball. (KM #177)
The Most Popular coin of 2011 was awarded to the National Bank of Mongolia for its 500 Tugrik silver coin featuring an owl with crystal eyes. A previous coin of the series featuring the wolverine was awarded the overall Coin of the Year award in 2009. (KM #309)
The Most Artistic coin was awarded to the National Bank of Latvia. The winning coin is a square, 1 Lats, silver piece honoring the artist Alexandrs Caks. (KM #120)
The Most Innovative coin of the year was awarded to the Royal Dutch Mint for its 5 Euro silver coin celebrating the Mint’s 100th anniversary. It features a QR code (short for Quick Response Code) on the reverse, which can be scanned with a smart phone for more information. (KM #302)
Finally, the Most Inspirational coin award was taken by the Mint of Poland for a 10 Zlotych silver coin honoring the 100th Anniversary of the Society for the Protection of the Blind. (Y #796)
Judges are set to complete their voting in mid December for the overall Coin of the Year Winner. The 2013 COTY Awards will be given on Saturday, February 2, 2013, at a special ceremony during the World Money Fair in Berlin, Germany.
The Coin of the Year program is sponsored by Krause Publications’ World Coin News.
About Krause Publications
Krause Publications, based in Iola, Wis., is the world’s largest publisher of leisure-time periodicals and books on collectibles, firearms and knives, automobiles, hunting and construction. Chet Krause, a long-time collector of coins, published the first issue of Numismatic News on Oct. 13, 1952, with nearly 1,000 readers. Today, Krause Publications, owned by F+W Media, offers more than 40 periodicals, 10 hobby shows including the Chicago International Coin Fair and Chicago Paper Money Expo, 750 reference and how-to books, and web properties such as NumisMaster.com, the online coin price database.
Many of the nominees were good but several of the final choices don’t do it for me. Look soon for my own nominees at The Coin Analyst column and the chance to vote for your favorite or suggest something else! Plus my list is not of coins made in 2011. It is coins issued in 2012.