Hankyung Association "Must Enter the Artistic Coin Market"... Approximately 20 Trillion Won Scale

Hankyung Association Proposes Fostering 'Artistic Coin Industry'
Market Size of 19.9 Trillion Won in 2022
"Promoting Our Representative Image, Now Is the Opportunity"

A proposal has emerged to issue 'artistic coins' featuring national symbols that embody cultural and artistic value, aiming to enhance the national brand and contribute to economic development.

Cases of Artistic Coins from Major Countries. Photo by Korea Economic Association Provided

The Korea Economic Association (HanKyungHyup) emphasized this on the 1st through a proposal to foster the 'artistic coin industry.'

Artistic coins are legal tender produced from precious metals such as gold or silver, featuring symbols representing the country, with their value guaranteed by the central bank. Unlike commemorative coins issued once at face value, artistic coins are sold at prices that vary according to precious metal market prices and are issued over a long period under a single theme. Nine countries worldwide, including the United States, China, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, issue artistic coins. The U.S. uses the eagle, China the panda, and Australia the kangaroo in their artistic coin designs to promote national culture. The market size of the six major global artistic coin markets grew nearly threefold from 7.5 trillion won in 2019 to 19.9 trillion won in 2022 over three years.

Most of the coin sales in these countries come from artistic coins. As of 2022, the sales share of artistic coins was 91.6% in Canada, 88.1% in the UK, and 70.3% in the U.S. In contrast, South Korea's circulating coins accounted for 87.3%. HanKyungHyup stated, "If our country participates in the Western-centered coin market, the rarity will increase, attracting new demand and internationally promoting our representative image. Now is the opportunity as Japan and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) have not yet entered the market."

HanKyungHyup also predicted that issuing artistic coins could revitalize upstream and downstream industries and increase fiscal revenue. At the raw material procurement stage, industries such as precious metal refining and financial products for material price risk diversification would develop. At the coin manufacturing stage, growth in mold production and manufacturing machinery would accompany, and at the distribution and sales stage, a new distribution ecosystem could be created.

HanKyungHyup added that revenue from artistic coin sales would directly support national finances. Canada utilizes 85 billion won annually from the Royal Mint's revenue as treasury funds, and Austria attributes 130 billion won of annual revenue earned by its mint to the central bank.

Additionally, artistic coins can increase the public's gold holdings, enhancing the nation's foreign exchange risk response capacity. They also increase options for safe asset investment and collection for citizens.

Lee Sang-ho, head of the Economic Industry Division at HanKyungHyup, said, "While circulating coins are disappearing due to the development of the digital economy, the artistic coin market is rapidly growing. South Korea also needs to actively issue artistic coins by leveraging its national brand and cultural strengths."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.