The first round of voting by an international panel of judges began Nov. 12 to determine the Coin of the Year Award winners to be recognized at the World Money Fair in Berlin, Germany, in February 2009.
Online voting for the companion People’s Choice Award is also set to begin Nov. 14 at the www.NumisMaster.com Web site.
Almost 100 nominations were made by the nominating panel in September to determine the final field of competitors in the 10 first-round Coin of the Year categories. All of the coins in the competition are dated 2007.
Categories are Most Historically Significant (more than 99 years ago), Best Contemporary Event (less than 100 years ago), Best Gold, Best Silver, Best Crown, Best Trade, Most Popular, Most Artistic, Most Innovative and Most Inspirational.
Once winners are determined for the 10 categories at the Dec. 15 deadline, a second ballot will be sent to the judges for them to select the Coin of the Year from among the first-round winners. Deadline for this final selection will be Jan. 5, 2009.
Online voting for the People’s Choice Award will conclude at the end of the day, Jan. 4, 2009.
Winners will be identified and arrangements made to honor them at the World Money Fair.
The field of choice for the People’s Choice Award is smaller at 15, but some entries here did not make it onto the ballot for the international panel of judges.
“We are excited to once again offer Coin of the Year voting to coin collectors from around the world,” said Scott Tappa, numismatics publisher at Krause Publications, parent firm of Numismatic News and its sister publication, World Coin News, sponsor of the awards.
“Last year’s program drew hundreds of thousands of votes from around the globe, and we’re expecting an even greater response this year. What could be more democratic than letting collectors decide which coin they like best?” Tappa asked.
Last year’s People’s Choice winner was the Hungarian Mint, for its 50-forint coin celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution.
The Royal Canadian Mint took the judges’ top prize for its four-piece set of $50 palladium coins showing the Big Bear and Little Bear constellations in changing seasonal positions.
The 2009 awards will mark the 25th anniversary of Coin of the Year honors.
Click here to view the nominees for the 2009 People’s Choice Award.
