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Gambia Hosts Currency Workshop
Tuesday, 26 April 2011 21:19
Coin collectors may focus on collecting the product, its appearance, and its aftermarket value, but central banks have to be concerned with how much
money to issue, its appearance, and other logistical considerations that will determine just how many coins or bank notes will be issued during a specific period. Together these two disciplines alongside several other disciplines become something we call numismatics.What we all tend to forget is that a government has to issue sufficient coins and bank notes to drive an economy, regardless of if that economy was 2,000 years ago or last year. It is the geographic and financial size of the issuing entity, its economic needs, and current politics that will determine if a coin or bank note may have a low mintage or printing or not; in other words, if the coin or bank note will likely be rare later or not.
A glimpse into the world through which this planning takes place can be viewed through the March 7-11 Regional Workshop on Bank Note and Currency Management and Forecasting in Central Banks organized by the West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management in co-operation with the security printing firm of De La Rue and hosted by The Gambia.
According to a March 7 Pan-African News Agency press release, the meeting came at a time when there is an “urgent need to chart a new direction consistent with best practices, in order to engender greater efficiency and minimize the cost of printing and minting currency.”
Central Bank of The Gambia Governor Amadou Colley said, “Currency management is a critical aspect of central banks’ functions. The integrity of the currency and [the] efficient supply of bank notes are indicators of a well functioning central bank, especially in predominantly cash based economies such as ours.” (The Gambia does not currently issue any coins for circulation.)
Colley continued, “New [bank note] designs must win public acceptance, incorporate requisite security features, and meet durability and machine processing standards.” I will add, circulating coins must meet the same challenges.
West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management Director General Akpan H. Ekpo said, “Recent developments in photographic and computer technology, as well as printing devices, have made the production of counterfeit money relatively easy, thereby increasing the potential threat.”
Ekpo said the major challenge to counterfeit prevention is partnering between law enforcement agencies, financial institutions, and central banks, then these three groups coordinating with the security printing industry and with their suppliers.
The conference included workshops on “New Challenges in Currency Management,” “New Directions in Bank Note Design,” “Security Features Against Counterfeiting,” “Forecasting the Demand for Bank Notes,” and “Country Case Studies on Currency Management.”
The International Organization for Standardization is also involved in policing bank note standards worldwide. While security printing facilities must be concerned with certain standards, some mints around the world have computer data banks identifying the diameter, weight, and metal composition of other current world coins in order to try to avoid producing a coin that could be vended somewhere else in the world for a greater value. These continuing problems are not something isolated to West Africa, but it something that involves both coins and bank notes everywhere.
Source: World Coin News
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