Coin Invest Trust (CIT): Smartminting Technology and Beyond

Numismatics changed forever in 1970 with the advent of Coin Invest Trust, also commonly referred to by the moniker CIT, a collective formed in the little country of Liechtenstein. For decades, the company has led the way in innovation, offering coins that could never have been imagined just a few short years ago. As you grow your collection, be sure to consider some of this company’s unique pieces. Keep reading to learn more about CIT and its invaluable contributions to modern numismatics. You may just want to pick up an issue or two for your collection!

When the company first opened, it focused on making coins from foreign mints available to collectors in Europe. To do so, it created partnerships with the likes of the British Royal Mint, the United States Mint, and Italy’s Zecca dello Stato.

In the following decade, the company began releasing coins of its own, in partnership with other countries and mints. While many collectible coin companies folded in the 1980s due to a flooded market and diminished customer interest, CIT prevailed and was able to utilize its understanding of its customer base to enhance the coins it produced. CIT’s defining breakthrough came in 1988 with an Albanian commemorative coin that celebrated the state railway. On it, an old train passed through a hole in the coin, emerging as a modern train on the opposite side. The innovative coin, which was a major challenge to produce, won the prestigious Coin of the Year Award, and afterward, the company was off and running.

Four years later, the company released one of the first-ever colorized coins as part of the Marine Life Protection series. Since then, the mint has continued to innovate, offering collectors the likes of its Tiffany Art coin series and, starting in 2015, smartminting technology, which enabled a level of precision that allows the company to produce works of art of unrivaled quality.

Smartminting technology has taken CIT—and modern numismatics—to new heights. Crafted in cooperation with B.H Meyer Mint in Munich, this process enables CIT to strike coins in higher relief without the need for additional material or weight. The process can increase the surface area of a coin by as much as 183%. Best of all, the increased relief is not just possible for antique-finish coins but also proofs and colorized coins.

In 2020, Coin Invest Trust (CIT) is offering collectors smartminting Reloaded, starting with its Majestic Eagle series. The first releases of the series will consist of pieces struck from 1/10 of gold, 1 oz. of gold, 1 oz. of silver, and 50 grams of copper. The last piece is the Piedfort. The copper issue is also notably the first time that CIT has applied its smartminting technology to a copper coin!

The new technology is particularly exciting because it more than doubles the relief of the already very high relief offered by standard smartminting technology. Not only that, but the new technology also makes it possible for CIT to strike both faces in this exceptionally high relief. These stunning pieces feature two perspectives of an eagle’s head on one face, and talons that look like they’re piercing straight through the coin itself, on the other face. These new Mongolian coins are sure to be a hit with collectors who are quick enough to snatch them up.

While the Majestic Eagle series is sure to get top billing in 2020, collectors interested in CIT should become familiar with some of the stunning series that the mint has produced. Standing out among them is the Tiffany Art series. The series started as an issue in Liberia in 2004 and has been an annual issue in Palau since 2007. Struck initially from 2 oz of silver, the series has also featured 1 kg pieces since 2014 and traditionally has extremely low mintages. Each issue showcases unique architecture found in iconic locals all around the world and features a stained-glass inlay that makes the piece stand out in any collection. Some highlights of the series so far include Cambodian Khmer architecture in Angkor, which was featured in 2019, and the wonder of Nagesh-e Jahan Square in Isfahan, Iran, which is being released in 2020.

Since 2018, the company has enamored collectors with its unique Prehistoric Beast collection. The silver coins in this collection are struck in high relief and have proof-like fields. They have rock finishes and rims and edges that look like rock. This makes it seem as though the collectors are discovering the fossils just like archaeologists did!

CIT introduced its Wildlife Protection series in 2007 with the Gulo Gulo, although the second issue in the series didn’t come along until 2011. Each issue features a close-up look at the face of an animal. What sets coins in this series apart is that Swarovski crystals are used for the animals’ eyes. Although the crystals are small relative to the stained glass in the Tiffany Art series, collectors find themselves mesmerized by the combination of stunning, high-relief designs and these unique elements that set the coins apart.

Glass and crystal make some CIT coins stand out, but the company’s Four-Leaf Clover collection goes one step further with the inclusion of actual four-leaf clovers in each piece. First struck in 2006 and issued annually since 2011, these colorful pieces bring some of nature’s luckiest plants to collectors. Gold coins have been issued along with the silver editions since 2015.

https://coinweek.com/dealers-companies/cit-coin-invest/modern-world-coins-50-years-of-cit-coin-invest-trust/

https://www.cit.li/collections/tiffany-art/

https://www.cit.li/collections/four-leaf-clovers/

https://www.cit.li/collections/prehistoric-beast/

https://www.cit.li/collections/wildlife-protection/

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