The programme has now been finalised for the Coin Conference, organised by Currency News, which takes place May 31-June 1 at the Millennium Gloucester Hotel in London and is the first event to focus purely on circulating coins as part of central bank and issuers' cash management strategies. To date, over 130 participants have signed up, one third of whom are from issuers or mints.

The two-day programme is divided into sessions on the circulating coin landscape (trends, issues and challenges), cost impact and reduction, meeting demand and engaging the public, security and authentication, and optimising coins in circulation.

The 28 presentations cover such topical issues as the note/coin boundary, design parameters, new regulations for coin authentication and recirculation, reducing costs through recycling, security features, seigniorage, the optimal denomination structure, forecasting demand and the challenges of cashless payments. There will also be a number of case studies on the benefits of note substitution, removing low value coins from circulation and re-engineering cash centres and logistics. 

The speakers include representatives from the central banks of Israel, Hungary, Germany, the Philippines, the Netherlands and India (to be confirmed), the mints of Bavaria, Canada, the UK and the Netherlands, the US General Accountability Office, the European Anti Fraud Office (OLAF), the UK Payments Council and the European Vending Association.

The formal programme takes place Tuesday May 31 and Wednesday June 1, although there will be opening cocktail reception on the evening of the Monday. There will also be an exhibition of new technologies and processes from the event's sponsors, which include the Royal Mint, the Dutch Currency Association (Kusters, the Royal Dutch Mint and Transtrack), Scan Coin, Saxonia EuroCoin, Honeywell and Wincor Nixdorf.

Further details and online registration are available at www.thecoinconfernece.com. Special half price rates are offered for delegates from central banks and coin issuers.