Austria Dominates in COTY Finalist Round

The Austrian Mint emerged as a strong contender in the first round of balloting for the 2022 Coin of the Year (COTY) Awards, an internationally conducted awards program recognizing excellence and ingenuity in coin design. The 39th annual program, presented by World Coin News and sponsored by the Journal of East Asian Numismatics, honors 2020-dated coins issued by countries around the world.

From a field of 100 coins put forth by the COTY Nominating Committee, judges favored Austrian coins for an impressive three of the 10 categories of competition: Best Gold Coin, Best Bi-Metallic Coin and Most Artistic Coin.

France and Latvia had notable showings as well, with two category wins each: Best Contemporary Event Coin and Best Crown Coin for France, and Best Silver Coin and Most Inspirational Coin for Latvia. The United States earned Most Historically Significant Coin honors, while South Africa received Best Circulating Coin and Barbados took Most Innovative Coin.

The winners in each of these 10 categories will go on to the final round in the competition and vie for the prestigious title of Coin of the Year.

Following is a list of these category winners with commentary from Tom Michael, COTY coordinator, World Coin News contributor and market analyst.

Once the final vote is complete and the ultimate Coin of the Year is determined, a virtual awards ceremony will be held. For more details, keep an eye on NumismaticNews.net.