Coins have recently been released which mark the transfer of the Olympic Games from London to Rio. These coins mark the final British coins for the London 2012 Olympics and the first Brazilian coins for the 2016 Rio Olympics.

The coin from the Royal British Mint is designed by Jonathan Olliffe and depicts two hands which are ready to exchange an Olympic relay baton. A continuous sweeping flag frames the image and shows the British flag in the upper portion, which twists to reveal the Brazilian flag in the lower portion.

An edge inscription on the coin reads “I CALL UPON THE YOUTH OF THE WORLD”. This is part of the traditional statement delivered to formally close the Olympic Games. This year’s statement was the following:

In accordance with tradition I declare the Games of the 30th Olympiad closed. I call on the youth of the world to assemble four years from now in Rio de Janeiro to celebrate the Games of the 31st Olympiad.

The £2 Coin is available in base metal in brilliant uncirculated condition, sterling silver proof, sterling silver Piedfort proof, and 22 karat gold proof.

The Banco Central do Brasil announced their own coins to mark the transfer of the flag to Brazil for the 2016 Rio Olympics. The coin also includes elements of both London and Rio along with the Olympic theme.

The obverse of the coin includes the Olympic flag with the official logo of the Rio Games beneath. The reverse contains stylized depictions of landmarks from the host cities of London and Rio. Once again, a twist is used to show the change over with a depiction of the Tower Bridge on the left and the statue of Christ the Redeemer on the right.

A base metal coin with an alternate reverse design is also produced for release into circulation.

Perth Mint Releases Coming September 3

The next round of Perth Mint product releases will go on sale Monday, September 3, 2012 around 12:00 Noon ET. I wanted to specifically mention this ahead of time since it will be a holiday in the United States.

Some expected products include the 2013 Year of the Snake Silver Proof Coin, as well as the Three Coin Set. Last year, both of these products were extremely rapid sell outs for the Year of the Dragon coins.

I will have coverage of these and other new products as soon as possible on Monday. You can start checking the Perth Mint’s recent releases section around noon.

The Europa Coin Programme, also referred to as the Europa Silver Star Coin Programme or Eurostar Programme, is an interesting concept that has been running for several years.

Member countries of the European Union cooperate to issue coins celebrating common aspects of European identity with a different theme selected for each year. All coins must be at least .900 fine silver, crown size, and carry the “Europa Star” privy mark. Coins may be issued in euros as well as other currencies.

The theme for 2012 is European Artists with 14 countries participating this year:

• Austria – Egon Schiele
• Belgium – Paul Delvaux
• Czech Republic – Jiří Trnka
• Finland – Henrik Wigström
• France – Daniel Buren
• Hungary – József Reményi
• Ireland – Jack B. Yeats
• Italy – Michelangelo Buonarroti
• Latvia – Kārlis Zāle
• Malta – Antonio Sciortino
• Netherlands – Netherlands and the Arts
• Portugal – José Malhoa
• Slovakia – Master Pavol of Levoča
• Spain – Juan Gris

The lines with included links lead to coverage on CoinUpdate. Not all of the coins have been released yet and some designs remain unannounced. Below is a selection of some of the design or coins that have been released so far.

Italy- Michelangelo Buonarroti

Austria – Egon Schiele

Finland – Fabergé Artistry of Henrik Wigström

Slovakia – Master Pavol of Levoča

Spain – Juan Gris

I like the idea of all countries cooperating to focus on a common theme. The coins of the program also showcase the different styles and design conventions utilized by the different countries.

The themes for previous years of the Europa Coin Programme are shown below:

• 2004 – EU Enlargement
• 2005 – Peace and Freedom
• 2006 – Distinguished European Figures
• 2007 – European Realisation
• 2008 – Cultural Heritage
• 2009 – European Heritage
• 2010 – European Architecture
• 2011 – European Explorers

Before moving on to some new issues, I wanted to revisit the results of the poll where readers were asked to select their favorite from a selection of the 2012 Titanic Commemorative Coins.

The poll included five different one ounce (or less) silver coins from various world mints, which had roughly similar pricing points. To keep things on a level playing field, the poll did not include oversized coins or coins with embedded elements.

There were 143 votes cast in the poll from unique readers. The winner with 42.66% of the vote was the coin struck by the New Zealand Mint for the island country of Niue. At a very close second was the Royal Canadian Mint’s $10 silver coin, which captured 40.56% of the vote.

Here are the complete results:

The unusual thing about the Niue coin is that the entire mintage of 2,229 coins was apparently made exclusively available to APMEX. One reader pointed out that APMEX raised their price of the coin at some point during the course of this poll.

The $10 Silver Coin from the Royal Canadian Mint has already sold 87% of the 20,000 limited mintage, according to information on the RCM website.

Since the United States Mint has launched a new “Birth Set” today, I thought it would be interesting to explore some of the birth or baby coins and sets offered by world mints. Whereas the US Mint is a new entrant into this space, other world mints have been producing specially themed legal tender coins or themed packaged sets for years.

Royal Australian Mint

According to their website, the Royal Australian Mint has been offering themed baby sets since 1993. The current theme features Dot and the Kangarroo, an Australian children’s story.

Both proof and uncirculated versions of the Baby Coin Set are available. Each set seems to include six different denomination coins in special packaging. The proof set includes a photo frame and baby book. The uncirculated set includes a photo frame, coin wallet, and medallion. A legal tender dollar coin carries a depiction of the author and some of the characters from the story.

Royal British Mint

The Royal British Mint has an entire section dedicated to gifts for births and Christenings. There are several different gift packs or gift sets available which include the 1p to £2 denominations in brilliant uncirculated quality. The coins are placed within specially designed folders or boxes.

On the higher end, they also offer a gold sovereign and gold quarter sovereign in special packaging for a baby. These seem to come in a special box with a booklet and are priced higher than the same coins in standard packaging.

Finally, there is also a “lucky silver penny” available. The coin is struck in 3.5 grams of sterling silver and comes in a special folder. A sterling silver £1 coin in special packaging is also available.

Royal Canadian Mint

The Royal Canadian Mint offers a Baby Gift Set. Each set includes six uncirculated coins (1c, 5c, 10c, 25c, $1, and $2). Five of the coins feature the standard circulation designs, while the 25-cent coin features a specially created baby-themed design.

For 2011, a similar set was available, which included a different specially designed 25-cent coin. The 2011 design was also used for a one-half ounce .9999 fine silver coin with a legal tender value of 4 Dollars.

Perth Mint

The Perth Mint has a special section of their product catalog containing baby gifts. The products include the uncirculated Baby Coin Set produced by the Royal Australian Mint and specially packaged 2012 Silver Koala and 2012 Silver Kookaburra Baby Coin Packs.

They also offer personalized medallions, which feature a lunar design or the Perth Mint logo on one side and a custom message on the other side.

Chinese Lunar Calendar Coins

A final gift option to consider for newborns are Chinese Lunar Calendar Coins. These are somewhat personalized since you can pick the animal corresponding to the baby’s date of birth. Numerous mints offer bullion or numismatic coins with Chinese lunar calendar themes.

My cousin is due to give birth to her first child this month. In addition to the baby clothes, etc that my wife will pick out, I selected the coin above for the newborn baby gift. This is the one-half ounce silver Year of the Dragon coin from the Royal Canadian Mint.