Finland and the United States were the top winners in the first round of judging in the Coin of the Year competition.

Each nation won two of the 10 categories, while Italy, Japan, Canada, Great Britain, Austria, and the Cook Islands each won in a single category.

The COTY Awards are sponsored by World Coin News, the World Money Fair and the Journal of East Asian Numismatics.

All coins in the contest are dated 2015.

Finland had the Best Bi-Metallic Coin, a 5-euro piece depicting Lapland reindeer (KM-224).

It also won in the Best Silver Coin category with a 10 euro marking the 70th anniversary of peace after World War II (KM-226).

The United States claimed the Best Circulating Coin title with an America the Beautiful quarter honoring the Kisatchie National Forest (KM-598).

The Cook Islands had the Most Innovative Coin, a silver $2 that represents the Space-Time Continuum - Black Hole Shaped Coin with Magnetic Sphere (KM-1693).

To read the complete article, see:
Coin of the Year's 10 winners (www.numismaticnews.net/article/coin-years-10-winners)