The Royal Belgian Mint will mint its last coins on Monday. In a money-saving exercise, the government has decided to entrust production to a private sub-contractor. Until such an organisation is found, no Belgian euro coins will be produced. This is reported by Het Nieuwsblad, De Standaard, Het Belang van Limburg and Gazet van Antwerpen on Monday.
The transfer of manufacture is not giving rise to security and defect concerns. André Toujour, a representative of the independent trade union Nuod, confirmed to Het Nieuwsblad, “The security controls are fairly strict to minimise the risk of abuse.” He stressed that any current fears revolve more around quality issues saying, “Coins made in Belgium are some of the best in Europe as they shine for the longest time, the given effigy stays in place and the embossed design is sufficiently pronounced.”
The 43 members of staff of the Belgian Royal Mint will remain employed at the FPS Finance.
The Brussels Times
