United States, Warren G. Harding Presidential Silver Medal
The United States Mint opened sales of the Warren G. Harding Presidential Silver Medal at noon EDT on May 13. Priced at $164, the medal contains one troy ounce of 99.9% fine silver, carries a matte finish, and measures 1.598 inches in diameter. It ships encapsulated in a single presentation case with a Certificate of Authenticity. No mintage, product, or household order limits were listed at launch.
The Mint credits George T. Morgan with both the obverse and reverse designs, a notable touchpoint for U.S. classic coinage collectors. The obverse depicts a bust of the 29th president; the reverse features a mourning female figure beside a column, holding a laurel branch with a palm branch entwined with a wreath at her feet. Inscriptions below an adaptation of the Presidential Seal read “INAUGURATED PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES MAR. 4, 1921” and “DIED AUG. 2, 1923,” marking Harding’s brief tenure before his death in office. The medal continues the Presidential Silver Medal series launched in 2018, which has added four new releases each year since 2019.
Austria, Cat’s Eye Nebula 20 Euro Silver
The Austrian Mint issued the third coin in its *Beauty of the Universe* series on May 13. The Cat’s Eye Nebula is struck in .925 sterling silver at 22.42 g and 34 mm, in proof quality, with a face value of €20 and an issue price of €99. Mintage is capped at 30,000. The coin uses a wave shaped relief to evoke a pulsating star at the end of its life, and a coloured central element renders the nebula, catalogued as NGC 6543, based on imagery in the public scientific record. The design is by Helmut Andexlinger. The series follows 2024’s Supernova and 2025’s Einstein Ring, and is scheduled to continue in 2027 with Gravitational Wave and in 2028 with Protostar.
Niue / Poland, “Magnolia” $1, Flowers of the Four Seasons
Mennica Polska, the Mint of Poland, has launched *Magnolia*, the first coin in a new Flowers of the Four Seasons collection issued under Niue’s $1 denomination. The one ounce silver coin (Ag 999) is struck in proof quality and uses a photochromic pigment layer: under sunlight or UV light the magnolia bloom shifts to pink, then fades as light decreases. Mintage is a tight 500 pieces, a small enough run that the coin will function as a showcase for the technology rather than a mass market issue. The design is positioned as the spring entry, with summer, autumn, and winter releases expected to follow.
United Kingdom, Royal Mint Pink Floyd “Music Legends”
The Royal Mint opened sales of its Pink Floyd commemorative coin at 9 a.m. on May 14, the latest entry in its Music Legends series. Designer Henry Gray placed the prism from *The Dark Side of the Moon* at the centre of the reverse, and a selection of editions adds a rainbow effect colour print rendering the spectrum. Prices begin at £18.50 for a £5 Brilliant Uncirculated coin; a coloured £5 version is offered at £29.50, and the range tops out at a 1 oz Gold Proof at £5,320, limited to 100 pieces worldwide. A £200 denomination gold coin is also listed at £10,535.
Alongside the coins, the Mint is offering a Pink Floyd guitar plectrum designed by Daniel Thorne in gold, silver, and dark chrome, a nod to David Gilmour’s solo on “Time.” Pink Floyd joins David Bowie, Freddie Mercury, Paul McCartney, Shirley Bassey, George Michael, and Iron Maiden in the series, which the Mint says has now placed close to half a million coins with collectors across 108 countries.
Canada, Royal Canadian Mint FIFA World Cup 2026 $1 Circulation Coin
The Royal Canadian Mint unveiled its FIFA World Cup 2026 commemorative $1 circulation coin at BC Place in Vancouver on May 14, with the loonie entering circulation the same day. Mintage is limited to three million coins, including two million colourized pieces; the remaining one million are struck without colour. Canadians will find them in change as banks and businesses cycle their $1 inventories.
Designed by Glen Green, the reverse features the upper portion of the FIFA26 CAN maple leaf mosaic,
rendered in red, orange, and white on the colourized version, alongside the official FIFA World Cup 2026 emblem, a soccer ball in motion, and engravings for the Canadian host cities Toronto and Vancouver. The obverse carries Steven Rosati’s effigy of King Charles III. A five coin set bundles both versions of the dollar with three 25 cent coins themed “Canada Welcomes the World,” the official mascot, and “The Match,” with variable print packaging producing many colour combinations. Special wrap rolls of 25 coins in struck and colourized formats round out the program. Canada hosts 13 matches in Toronto and Vancouver between June 11 and July 19, 2026, marking the country’s first time staging men’s World Cup play.
Australia, Royal Australian Mint “Remembering Queen Elizabeth II”
The Royal Australian Mint previewed what it bills as the final coin in its royal mourning series, *Remembering Queen Elizabeth II*. The release builds on an earlier coin marking what would have been Her Majesty’s 100th birthday, distinguished by the addition of a “C” privy mark, the Roman numeral for 100. The product page lists an EQL ballot opening on May 25 and general sales beginning May 28, with a colored $1 uncirculated coin, a 50 cent silver proof, and a 50 cent gold proof in the line up. The Mint frames the release around both the centenary of the Queen’s birth and the anniversary of her 1953 coronation.
Norway, Mørstad Viking Hoard Surpasses 4,700 Coins
Excavations at Mørstad farm in Åmot, Innlandet County, continue to expand what is now decisively Norway’s largest Viking Age coin hoard. As reported by Medievalists.net on the basis of new figures from the Museum of Cultural History, the hoard had reached 4,772 coins, larger than the next four biggest Viking Age hoards in Norway combined. Site notes during the week put daily yields at 70–100 coins as machinery removed topsoil under archaeological supervision. The 4,000th coin recorded was identified as a Danish penny of Harthacnut, probably struck at Lund around 1030–1035.
The find was made in April by detectorists Vegard Sørlie and Rune Sætre, who stopped digging after recovering 19 coins and called in Innlandet County archaeologists, a textbook example of detectorist–archaeologist cooperation. Specialists from the Coin Cabinet in Oslo have dated the latest material in the deposit to around 1046–1047, placing the burial squarely at the boundary between foreign silver circulation in Norway and Harald Hardrada’s introduction of a national coinage. Four early Hardrada coins are present, and over 95% of the hoard’s coins originate from English and German kingdoms, underscoring Østerdalen’s role in long distance trade networks at the end of the Viking Age. The Norwegian Ministry of Cultural Heritage has committed 1.2 million kroner (about US$130,000) toward continued research at the site.
Denmark, Two Rare Anglo Saxon “Lamb of God” Pennies
Archaeology Magazine reported on May 10 that two Anglo Saxon Agnus Dei pennies, silver coins struck under King Æthelred II of England around 1009, have entered the National Museum of Denmark after being recovered separately by detectorists near Løgumkloster in southern Jutland and at Kåstrup in Thy. Only about 30 examples of the type are recorded worldwide, with most surviving specimens turning up in Scandinavia and the Baltic rather than England.
The pennies depart from the standard Anglo Saxon design of royal portrait plus cross. The obverse shows the Lamb of God with a cross, standing on a tablet inscribed with alpha and omega; the reverse depicts a rising dove representing the Holy Spirit. Æthelred is recorded as having paired the issue with public fasting and acts of penance during a period of acute pressure from Viking raids and tribute demands. The historical irony is that the coins, intended to invoke divine protection against the Norse, were highly prized by Viking raiders themselves: most surviving Scandinavian examples carry small soldered loops, indicating they were re purposed as pendants or amulets. Researchers at the National Museum of Denmark note the pieces link English kingship, Christianisation, and the emergence of Danish coinage in a single small silver disc.
United States, 2026 Semiquincentennial Coins Launch to the ISS
CoinNews reported on May 16 that selected 2026 U.S. circulating coins honoring the nation’s 250th anniversary lifted off aboard NASA’s SpaceX CRS 34 mission on May 15 at 6:05 p.m. EDT, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral. Eight coins traveled to the International Space Station: the 1776–2026 Jefferson nickel, the Emerging Liberty dime, the Enduring Liberty half dollar, and all five 2026 Semiquincentennial quarters, Mayflower Compact, Revolutionary War, Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and Gettysburg Address. The dual dated cent, which is collector only this year, was not among the coins listed for the mission.
NASA branded the resupply flight the “Freedom 250” mission, with the coins carried alongside new U.S. Postal Service stamps and NASA Freedom 250 patches. The Dragon spacecraft autonomously docked with the ISS at 6:37 a.m. EDT on Sunday, May 17, delivering more than 6,500 pounds of cargo. As of the week’s close, the Mint had not announced whether the coins will return to Earth, remain aboard, or feature in a future display.
