A Look Back at 2025
As we enter 2026, let’s not forget all of the exciting events that happened last year.
What a year! Within the last 12 months, the numismatic world has stayed busy. New issues of every shape and design entered the market, as currency from times past sold for amazing sums. NumisMaster saw updates to its database and its team, while winners were announced at the COTY awards, and Numismatic News went on a world adventure.
Creativity Abounds with New Issues
In 2025, hundreds of new coins were released. This year brought creativity in all forms, with coin designs recalling the past, predicting the future, and addressing modern-day events and people.
Courtesy of the U.S. Mint
Some of the favorites, and most notable, in the U.S. market were the first coins in the U.S. Mint’s new Comic Art series, coins honoring the 250th Anniversaries of the U.S. Army, Navy, and Marine Corps. The U.S. Mint also released the final coins in the American Women Quarters Program
What’s Happening at NumisMaster
2025 was an especially busy year at NumisMaster! Jeff Starck joined the team as a Market Analyst and began writing his column, Starck Reality (read on page 4). New Issues Analyst Jennifer Bushland extended her column, What’s New in NumisMaster, to both World Coin News and Bank Note Reporter, all while adding and updating coins in the database. And not to be forgotten, NumisMaster and PMG have joined forces to continue the legacy of Pick numbers.
Austria, and Others, Win at COTY
At this year’s COTY awards, the Münze Österreich won the Most Artistic, Best Bi-Metallic, and Most Historically Significant categories, alongside the ultimate Coin of the Year award for its “Supernova” coin. Other winners included the Monnaie de Paris, which won Best Contemporary Event, Best Circulating, and Most Innovative. The Vatican received the Best Gold, while Germania Mint won for Best Crown, Lietuvos Monety Kalykla for Best Silver, and Most Inspirational went to National Bank of Ukraine’s Banknote Printing and Minting Works.
Old Coins, New Wins at Auction
This year’s world-coin auction market delivered strong bids across a range of standout pieces. Among the highlights in 2025 were an 1827 8 reales Republic silver proof pattern that sold for $180,000 at an August Heritage Auctions sale, a 27–20 B.C.E. aureus of Augustus for $181,500 at the Carol F. Ross Collection Doyle auction, and a Genoa Republic 5 doppie depicting the Madonna and Christ as a child for £50,400 at a Stanley Gibbons Baldwin’s October event.
In the U.S., the Heritage January FUN sale featured a 1927-D Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle that sold for $3.84 million. This was a top sale for the year, but it was hard to compete, as many U.S. rarities crossed the auction block throughout the year.
Numismatic News Travels the World
along with other collector enthusiasts.
The Numismatic News team went abroad this year. Senior Editor Sophia Mattimiro hopped the pond to host collectors and coin enthusiasts alike on a tour of mints, museums, and more in London and Wales. Months later, Mattimiro and NumisMaster’s Jeff Starck went across the world to attend the Beijing International Coin Exposition, representing the Coin of the Year program.
Michael Chou, and China Banknote Printing and Minting Corporation staff during her visit to China.
Courtesy of China Banknote Printing and Minting Corporation.
You can find coverage of all of these events and more, right here on the Numismatic News website.
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