Bavarian State Mint – the oldest company in munich
As the oldest company in Munich at over 850 years old, the Bavarian State Mint still stands for quality in the areas of circulation coins and collector coins, but also in the production of official seals and medals.
While in centuries gone by the metal value was still important for the quality of a coin, today the requirements are on specific coin properties – a sign of mechanization. The wishes and suggestions of interest groups, such as the blind association or the vending machine industry, as well as the aspect of counterfeit protection, are incorporated into these coin properties in various ways.
In the course of this development, new methods and technologies were and are used in the State Mint, both in production and in the implementation of quality controls.
We also try to actively shape this development in cooperation with the supplier industry and the customer.
This system, as an interface between supplier and customer, has proven itself in over 50 years of producing the Deutsche Mark and will continue to prove itself in the production of Euro coins due to its adaptability. This makes the Bavarian State Mint an ideal partner for customers with high standards.
The Bavarian State Mint therefore has good prerequisites for global competition in the narrow sector of coin and medal production, allowing it to establish and expand upon a permanent position on the market. However, the position we have achieved can only be maintained and expanded in the long term with a functioning management system and a living, adaptable quality management system.
General Information about the Bavarian State Mint
The Bavarian State Mint is one of the five German mints, along with Berlin, Hamburg, Karlsruhe and Stuttgart. Currently, around 21% of the new coins in circulation in Germany are minted here. These coins can be recognized by the ‘D’ mint mark, which was issued when the prerogative of coinage was assumed by the German Reich in 1871.
A state-owned enterprise of the Free State of Bavaria, the State Mint is for-profit.
In addition to the production of circulation coins, the product range also features collector coins, medals and official seals for offices and authorities in the Free State of Bavaria.
The company building at Zamdorfer Street, where the State Mint is located today, was completed in 1986 and occupied in the same year. The mint at Alten Marstall no longer met the requirements of a modern industrial enterprise.
Our quality standards
To secure and expand the position of the Bavarian State Mint in the common European market, but also worldwide in the industry of coin and medal production, a quality system was put in place that is transparent for customers and creates trust.
The trust already placed in us does not release us from the obligation to constantly adapt and expand the process-based system to the requirements of the times. This gives customers the assurance that their requirements and expectations of the Bavarian State Mint will be met.
A successful, forward-looking quality policy is the basis for a long-term presence on the market and thus for safeguarding jobs.
Ongoing employee qualification through training creates the awareness needed to be connected to the product – and thus to the customer – and internalizes quality awareness.
The main goal is meeting customer requirements and designing processes in such a way that internal economic efficiency is not neglected. Possible errors and faults should be detected and eliminated at an early stage of the process.
Based on a continuous improvement process, the system is constantly reviewed and further developed. The initiative should come from all employees, where both directions must be possible throughout all levels of responsibility.
Environmental protection
Environmental protection has not only been practiced at the Bavarian State Mint since certification.
As a company of the Free State of Bavaria, the Bavarian State Mint (Bayerische Hauptmünzamt, HMA), based in Munich, sees itself as being committed to the citizens of Bavaria, particularly when it comes to taking environmental aspects into consideration.
A key feature of the corporate philosophy is to internalize environmental awareness as an integral component in the business areas.
The HMA achieves this at all levels through a clear environmental policy objective. The legal requirements represent minimum requirements for implementing environmental goals. Certification according to ISO 14001 should document this.
The goal of developing and producing our products in an environmentally friendly way requires considering the entire value chain and can only be achieved if every employee involved in the process has a clear understanding of the environmental policy. This is achieved through regular qualification measures for responsible employees as well as through continuous information and training for all employees.
The HMA does not just see itself as responsible for excluding environmental pollution or at least keeping pollution as low as possible as something that is internal. It also points out in business relations with customers and suppliers that resources should be used sparingly.
We see it as our duty to undergo a continual improvement process with regard to environmental protection at the HMA.
Progress shaped by tradition
Günther Waadt
Mission
Our focus is on securing the future economic success of the minting location in Bavaria. Based on the sovereign task defined by the German Monetary Act (Münzgesetz), we will strengthen our position in the market by achieving competitiveness on a global level.
Vision
Traditionally, minting coins is not only a standard task for our company, but above all, a duty to supply our customers with high-quality products. Technological leadership for the coin sector is to be maintained and expanded by expanding the business areas on the global market (sale of coin products, technology, etc.). Technically advanced solutions are successfully implemented with a great degree of efficiency in a short period of time. The Bavarian State Mint considers one of its core tasks to be the advancement of innovation in coin production. The Bavarian State Mint wants to gradually become a competitive vendor and system supplier in the coin industry.
Values
We consciously strive to be close to our customers through the presence of the Bavarian State Mint in all important national and international committees of the coin world. The trusting development and maintenance of a business relationship is just as important to us as an extraordinary product. Here, the HMA makes use of the excellent skills of its employees and also promotes the continuous further qualification of its staff. Unavailable resources (legal, sales and purchasing) are secured through trustworthy, transparent cooperation with external companies. The development of the HMA in competition is regularly evaluated based on a key performance indicator system.
Data and figures
Inauguration: 16/07/1986
Main usable area: 3.830m²
Net floor space: 5.950 m²
Gross volume: 33.400 m3
Property size: 14.399 m²
Minting capacity: approximately 1,000,000,000 units per year
The Bavarian State Mint is a supplier of:
- Mono and bi-colour coins
- Full metal: all metals and alloys
- Plated materials (all combinations)
- Galvanized: nickel, brass, bronze and copper (single and multilayer)
Innovative technologies
Shaped Coins
The “shaped coin” is a bi-colour coin with specially shaped edges. The technical innovation is based on the outer edge of the core, which is also shaped, and the shape of this is reflected in the inner edge of the ring.
Production is carried out using specially developed feed elements in the minting machine.
Microglyph Code
The microglyph code is a bar code that contains a patented code. This technique is already used in various industries to protect against counterfeit products. The special thing about this code is that it can be made up to 80% unreadable and it still retains information.
With the 10 euro commemorative coin “FIS Alpine Ski WM 2011”, certain information was deposited in the skier’s jersey as microglyph code.
Flip-flop Coin (Reversible Coin)
The flip-flop coin is gold on one side and silver on the other.
Pattern minting for a flip-flop coin in bi-color technology has also been tried and tested. The background of this technology was to achieve uniform recognition of two different materials.
Three Material Coin (TMC)
This bi-metallic coin has the special feature that the ring and core are separated by a high-quality translucent polymer ring. The polymer ring not only acts as an insulating gap between the two metals, but also represents a special visual safety feature due to its translucency. Special production processes ensure that the 3 components can be firmly joined together and meet the requirements of a circulation coin despite the different materials.
The first TMC patented by the Bavarian State Mint and the development partners went into series production for the first time in 2016 with the issue of a 5 euro commemorative coin (“Planet Earth”) for the Federal Republic of Germany and will be continued with the series “Climate Zones of the Earth” from 2017 to 2021.
Bavarian Medal
»100 Years of the Free State of Bavaria and 200 Years of the Bavarian Constitution«
The medal, made from fine silver, follows the principle of TMC technology with a translucent polymer ring.
