Photo: CIT Coin Invest AG
Photo: CIT Coin Invest AG
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smartminting© 4.0 Debuts with Iron Knight

Published February 22, 2024 | 2 min read

By Louis Golino

CIT Coin Invest AG of Liechtenstein continues to set the world standard for high-relief collector coins with the debut of a spectacular issue that uses smartminting© 4.0. This innovation increases the relief by 200 percent above typical modern coins.

The company’s latest creation is a coin called the Iron Knight. CIT announced the piece at the recent World Money Fair held in Berlin, Germany (February 2-4).

The Iron Knight

The Iron Knight is a medieval warrior that the company thought would be a good inspiration for its smartminting© 4.0 technology because the armor has many intricate details.

B.H. Mayer of Germany struck the 5-ounce, .999-fine silver proof piece. It features a remarkable 9mm depth of relief plus what the company calls an “extremely filigree level of detail even on ultra-high-relief proof surfaces.”

The $25 coin was issued for the Cook Islands, has a 65mm diameter, and a mintage of 555. It will likely go on sale in early June.

Issued on behalf of the Cook Islands, this hyper 3-D coin features a brave knight charging toward the viewer. This is the first CIT coin to use smartminting© 4.0 technology. (Photos: CIT Coin Invest AG)

smartminting© Technology has a Glow-Up

The company launched the first iteration of smartminting© in 2016. This made it possible to produce high-relief collector coins with 50 percent greater relief than other modern coins. The trademarked approach also allows for a greater definition of details and increased three-dimensionality. That year, the Great Tea Race coins issued for the Cook Islands were the first smartminting© coins to hit the shelves.

In 2020 the company upped its game with “smartminting© reloaded,” or 2.0. This upgraded technology made it possible to increase the relief level by 100 percent. It also opened the door to high relief on both sides and extended to the coin’s edge.

The first 2.0 coin, called Majestic Eagle, features a higher relief on the eagle’s portrait on the reverse and well-defined claws on the obverse.

As for why there was no smartminting© 3.0, CIT’s Head of Marketing Falk Liebnitzky says, “We decided to call this step in smartminting© the ‘4.0’ version to highlight the big difference to the existing one. This was called 2.0 already 4 years ago. The smartminting© development should not be considered gradually, with linear steps like 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, etc.”