Industry WIKI

The Coin of the Year (COTY) is an awards program founded and annually conducted by the American publisher Krause Publications of Iola, Wisconsin, and directed at the coin producing industry. Awards are given for numismatic design, artistic vision and craftsmanship. A panel of international judges chooses the coins from those issued two years prior to the year of the award.

The ducat ( DUK-ət) coin was used as a trade coin in Europe from the later Middle Ages to the 19th century. Its most familiar version, the gold ducat or sequin containing around 3.5 grams (0.11 troy ounces) of 98.6% fine gold, originated in Venice in 1284 and gained wide international acceptance over the centuries. Similarly named silver ducatons also existed. The gold ducat circulated a

Mints designed for the manufacture of coins have been commonplace since coined currency was first developed around 600 BC by the Lydian people of modern-day Turkey. The popularity of coins spread across the Mediterranean so that by the 6th century BC nearby regions of Athens, Aegina, Corinth and Persia had all developed their own coins.