Industry Insider: COVID Business Landscape: Part III

THIS MONTH WE begin the third part of what we thought would be a two-part article. Responses from mints and auction houses have continued to arrive. Reports of how business has changed during the pandemic are evolving into a broader picture. This month we will cover what is happening with mints on the Pacific Rim and in central Europe, plus a fun sidebar about a great coin project designed to both honor and assist U.K. health workers.

At the Japan Mint, the initial business impact of the pandemic was harsh, but the mint acted quickly to reduce risk to their staff and continue needed production.

Nayuko Kume, deputy director of overseas business informed us that, “Based on the state of emergency by the government, we are reducing the number of workers coming to work per day for some distance and to reduce risk for infection. Now about under 50 percent of workers are working at the factory. Also, we are closing the factory tour and the museum.”

So essential business keeps going and, according to Kume, “for now we do not have any infected patients.”

This approach has worked for other mints in southern Europe, as discussed in our last article, with