Poland 2 zlotys 2012 - Boleslaw Prus

New circulating commemorative:

"Boleslaw Prus"

Boleslaw Prus was the pen-name of Aleksander Glowacki (August 20 1847 - May 19 1912), a Polish journalist and novelist known as the leading representative of realism in 19th century Polish literature.



(news by Taigawirbel)

SPECIFICATIONS
Composition: Nordic gold, CuAl5Zn5Sn1
Weight: 8.15 g
Diameter: 27.00 mm
Mintage: 800 000

LINK: National Bank of Poland
LINK: Polish State Mint

Brazil 1 real 2012 - Rio de Janeiro 2016

New bimetallic commemorative:



(news and image from http://www.worldbcnews.com)

Ukraine 5 hryvnia 2012 - Yelets Uspensky monastery

New commemorative:

"Yelets Uspensky monastery"



Image of the monastery:



SPECIFICATIONS
Composition: CuNiZn
Weight: 16.54 g
Diameter: 35.00 mm
Mintage: 35 000

(information by Gijs Vlothuizen)

LINK: National Bank of Ukraine

Lithuania 50 litas 2012 - Dionizas Poska's Baubliai

New silver collectors issue:

"Dionizas Poska's Baubliai"

Dionizas Poska was a great poet and founder of the Baubliai museum, the first history museum in Lithuania.



(news by Pabitra Saha)

LINK: Bank of Lithuania

SPECIFICATIONS
Composition: Silver Ag 925
Quality: proof
Diameter: 38.61 mm
Weight: 28.28 g
Mintage: 4,000
Artist: Ruta Nicajiene and Giedrius Paulauskis

Poland 2 zlotys 2012 - ORP Orzel

New circulating commemorative:

"Polish Ships: ORP Orzel submarine"



(news by Pabitra Saha and Taigawirbel)

SPECIFICATIONS
Composition: Nordic gold, CuAl5Zn5Sn1
Weight: 8.15 g
Diameter: 27.00 mm
Mintage: 800 000

LINK: National Bank of Poland
LINK: Polish State Mint

United Kingdom 2 pounds 2012 - Handover

New bimetallic commemorative:



(news and image by Andrew G)

SPECIFICATIONS
Material: CuNi center and Nickel-Brass ring
Weight: 12.00 g
Diameter: 28.40 mm
Edge: Inscription "I CALL UPON THE YOUTH OF THE WORLD"
Designers: Jonathan Olliffe (Obverse) and Ian Rank-Broadley (Reverse)

LINK: British Royal Mint

Nicaragua 2012 - 5 & 100 cordobas

New commemoratives:

"100 years of the Cordoba as National Currency"

The Banco Central de Nicaragua released two coins to celebrate the 100 years since the adoption of the "Cordoba" as the Nicaraguan National Currency. The have released a five cordobas circulating commemorative (images awaited) and a 100 cordobas silver collectors coin:



The 5 cordobas circulation type:



(news by Pabitra Saha)
(5 cordobas image from www.numismatica-visual.es)

SPECIFICATIONS
100 cordobas:
Composition: Silver
Weight: 31.10 g
Edge: estriated
5 cordobas:
Composition: Stainless steel
Weight: 7.80 g
Diameter: 28.00 mm
Width: 1.80 mm

LINK: Banco Central de Nicaragua

Australia 1 dollar 2012 - Sir Douglas Mawson

New commemorative:

"Inspirational Australians: Sir Douglas Mawson"

Mawson is well known for his pioneering Antarctic exploration and study, particularly for leading the Australasian Antarctic Expedition in 1911. The coin is avaiable in a Special Card.



(information and image by Peter Kaminsky and Pabitra Saha)

SPECIFICATIONS
Composition: Al-Bronze
Weight: 9.00 g
Diameter: 25.00 mm
Designer: Wojciech Pietranik

LINK: Royal Australian Mint

Australia 50 cents 2012 - Australian Ballet

New commemorative:

"50th anniversary of the Australian Ballet"

Fifty years ago, a government initiative and a cache of ready talent gave life to the Australian Ballet, which first performed in 1962. Still bringing cherished classics and ground-breaking new works to a diverse audience, its trademark versatility, technical excellence and warmth are executed with apparent effortlessness.This coin presents a quintessential image of performance by the Australian Ballet. The coin is available in a Credit Card Style Pack and also available as a silver proof coin.



(information and image by Peter Kaminsky and Pabitra Saha)

SPECIFICATIONS
Composition: CuNi
Weight: 15.55 g
Diameter: 31.51 mm
Designer: Aaron Baggio

LINK: Royal Australian Mint

Canada 1 & 2 dollars 2012 - New commemoratives

The new 1 dollar "Lucky Loonie" circulating commemorative:



The new 2 dollars "Wolf Cubs":



(news by José Luis Ramírez and Wesley Green)

LINK: Royal Canadian Mint

Tajikistan 2011 - New coin family

New coins were released in june 2012, all bearing year 2011:



These are the specifications:



(news by Antony, Johann Siemens, Gijs Vlothuizen and Pabitra Saha)
(images from eBay seller collectors_shop)

LINK: National Bank of the Republic of Tajikistan

Maldives 2012 - New shapes

New pieces for 2012:

They are all made of aluminium, as before. The 1 laari piece looks like previous years, although the 5 and 10 laaris are now round, not scalloped as they were in previous years.



(news and image by Gijs Vlothuizen and Seung Woo Choi)

Finland 2 euro 2012 - 150th years of Helene Schjerfbeck's birth

New bimetallic circulating commemorative:

"150 years of the birth of Helene Schjerfbeck"

Helene Schjerfbeck (10th july 1862 - 23rd january 1946) was a Finnish painter. She is most widely known for her realist works and self-portraits. Throughout her long life, her work changed dramatically. She was supposedly a Realist, a Romanticist, an Impressionist, a Naturalist, a Symbolist, an Expressionist and a wildly ahead-of-her-time Abstractist. Truthfully, there were elements of all of these in her work as the decades progressed and one would not be incorrect using any of these terms.

(information taken from Wikipedia and About.com)



Two nice examples of her great paintings:



LINK: Bank of Finland
LINK: Mint of Finland
LINK: Helene Schjerfbeck in arthistory.about.com
LINK: Some paintings
LINK: More paintings

SPECIFICATIONS
External ring: CuNi
Center disc: 3 layers, Ni-Brass, Ni, Ni-brass
Diameter: 25.75 mm
Width: 2.20 mm
Weight: 8.50 g
Mintage: 2 million

Angola 2012 - New coins and notes

On June 26, this year, the National Assembly authorized the National Reserve Bank of Angola (BNA) to issue and put into circulation the notes of 5, 10, 50, 200, 500, 1000, 2000, 5000 and 10000 kwanzas.

The new 2012 series notes will bear different features from the current ones, particularly microprinting and ultraviolet features. The paper notes will bear a watermark depicting the figure of the "thinker", a symbol of the national culture. Among other features, the notes will also bear two lightly overlapped effigies of the late founder of the Nation, António Agostinho Neto and the incumbent head of State, José Eduardo dos Santos.

The BNA governor explained that there will be no replacement of banknotes as, he added, the new ones will be released gradually and will remain in circulation simultaneously with the currently valid ones.

The new coins will be of these denominations:

5 kwanzas
2 kwanzas
50 cents
10 cents

(news by Pabitra Saha)
(information taken from www.portalangop.co.ao and www.banknotenews.com)

LINK: Angola Press
LINK: Banknote News

Slovakia 20 euro 2012 - Trencin city

New silver commemorative:

"Conservation Series: Trencin city"



(news by Pabitra Saha)
(image from coinupdate.com)

SPECIFICATIONS
Composition: Silver 92.50
Diameter: 40.00 mm
Weight: 33.60 g

Ukraine 2 hryvnia 2012 - London Olympics

New commemorative:



The coin is dedicated to the XXX Olympic Games, which will be held in 2012 in London.

(news by Gijs Vlothuizen)

LINK: National Bank of Ukraine

Monaco 2 euro 2012

New bimetallic commemorative:



(information and images by Gijs Vlothuizen, Anthony Smith and Pabitra Saha)

Solomon Islands 2012 - New coinage

The definitive designs of the new Solomon Islands pieces:

France 10 euro 2012 - Edith Piaf

New silver commemorative:



(information and image by Pabitra Saha)

LINK: French Mint: Monnaie de Paris

Russia 5 roubles 2012 - New Battle issues

New circulating commemoratives:

Six new coins from the series Battles and Significant Events of 1812 and Foreign Campaigns of the Russian Army 1813-1814. They represent the Battles of Borodino, Maloyaroslavets, Smolensk, Tarutino, Berezino and Vyazma:



The common side:



(news by Antony and Dmitry Petrov)

LINK: Bank of Russia

Algeria 200 dinars 2012 - 50 Years of Independence

New circulating bimetallic:

"50 Years of Independence"



SPECIFICATIONS
Center composition: CuAlNi
Ring composition: CuNi
Thickness: 2.50 mm
Diameter: 28.00 mm
Weight: 12.00 g

(image and information by Wolfgang Schuster)

Isle of Man 50 pence 2012 - Mark Cavendish

New circulating commemorative:



(information and image by Andrew G)

Russia 10 roubles 2012 - Rostov-on-Don

New circulating commemorative:

"Cities of military glory: Rostov-on-Don"



(information by Dmitry Petrov, Antony and Taigawirbel)

LINK: Bank of Russia

Papua New Guinea 5 kina 2012 - Puffing Billy

New silver collectors' issue:



(news and image by Pabitra Saha)

Peru 1 nuevo sol 2012 - Real Felipe Fortress

New circulating type:

"Real Felipe Fortress"

This is the 9th coin of the series "Wealth and Pride of Peru":



LINK: Peru Central Bank

SPECIFICATIONS
Composition: CuNi
Diameter: 25.50 mm
Weight: 7.32 g
Mintage 10 million

(image and information by David Velarde)

The previous coins of the series:

1. Tumi de oro (2010)
2. Sarcofagos de Karajia (2010)
3. Estela de Raimondi (2010)
4. Chullpas de Sillustani (2011)
5. Monasterio de Santa Catalina (2011)
6. Machu Picchu (2011)
7. Gran Pajatén (2011)
8. Piedra de Saywite (2012)

Ukraine 5 hryvnia 2012 - Nikitsky Botanical Garden

New commemorative:

"Nikitsky Botanical Garden"



SPECIFICATIONS
Composition: CuNiZn
Weight: 16.54 g
Diameter: 35.00 mm
Mintage: 35 000

(information and image by Pabitra Saha)

LINK: National Bank of Ukraine

India 5 & 10 rupees 2012 - 60 years of the Parliament

New circulating commemoratives:

"60 years of the Parliament of India"



(news by Shabbir Disawala, Shamik Biswas and Pabitra Saha)
(image by Shabbir Disawala)