Like a popular Hollywood movie franchise, sometimes coins have more than one part.
Some coins with two parts are called ringed bimetallic coins.
A ringed bimetallic coin is a coin planchet assembled with two distinctly different metal compositions, one as the outer ring and the other as the center. The two pieces are locked together and jointly depict the images on the coin's surface.
The basic idea of ringed bimetallic coins is not a new one. What is considered by many as one of the earliest strikings of bimetallic prototypes dates back to 1730, when a silver token with a center copper plug was struck in Cologne, Germany, according to the Web site of the Worldwide Bimetallic Collectors Club, at http://wbcc-online.com.
During the reign of Charles I, the English Rose farthing of 1625 to 1649 had a brass wedge inserted into the copper as an anti-forgery device.
Even the U.S. Mint got into the act, experimenting with silver center cent coins in late 1782.
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THE "TWOONIE" is the affectionate slang for Canada's $2 coin, which shows a polar bear in the standard design.
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Coins, at the core
The common method of producing a ringed bimetallic coin today calls for the creation of two blanks that are joined together, the bimetallic Web site explains.
There are several ways of joining ringed bimetallic blanks, with each manufacturer having its own preferred method. The idea is the same: When the process is complete, the two pieces should be tightly locked together.
More than 100 countries have made ringed bimetallic coinage, in many different combinations of precious and base metals.
The first ringed bimetallic coin to be widely used in modern times was the 500-lira piece issued by the Italian government in 1982.
French connection
Much of the ringed bimetallic activity seems to center in Europe and in North America.
France, Russia and Portugal all adopted ringed bimetallic coins in late 1980s or early 1990s. The United Kingdom soon followed.
France's entry into ringed bimetallic coins came in 1988, when it issued 10-franc coins depicting the Spirit of Bastille statue. Circulating versions were struck with a steel core and an aluminum-bronze ring, and a collector version was struck with a gold center and a palladium-silver alloy ring.
The USSR issued its first ringed bimetallic coins, 5- and 10-ruble pieces, in 1991, shortly before the Soviet Union fell apart, and the Commonwealth of Independent States continued the practice, issuing 10- and 50-rouble coins in 1992 and 1993 (and until 1994 for the 50-rouble coin).
The United Kingdom added a ringed bimetallic £2 coin in 1998. In addition to the standard design, which heralds new technology, a new commemorative design is released every year. Precious metal versions of the coin have also been issued.
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TWO DENOMINATIONS of euro coins, e1 and e2, use ringed bimetallic technology. Shown are coins from Slovenia, the newest eurozone member to issue the multinational currency.
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Many euro offerings
Perhaps the most widespread issue of ringed bimetallic coins comes in the form of the multinational currency known as the euro.
Currently, 13 nations use the joint currency, but eventually at least 25 nations will use the euro. The nations share common denominations with common obverse designs, but each determines its own "national" side design featuring artistic, cultural and historical themes or personalities unique to the issuing nation.
The e1 and e2 coins are ringed bimetallic pieces, as the e1 coin has a copper-nickel center and a nickel-brass ring, and the metal is switched for the e2 coin, with a nickel-brass center and a copper-nickel ring.
Collectors will find numerous designs to choose from, though both denominations of ringed bimetallic euro coins from several countries share the same designs. Also, each country is allowed to issue commemorative e2 coins, one per year, except for 2007 when each nation will also issue a joint commemorative honoring the Treaty of Rome.
Oh, Mexico
Another one of the early modern adoptees of ringed bimetallic coins, Mexico, is one of the most prolific.
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2000 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Bicentennial $10 coin has a center of platinum and an outer ring of gold.
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Mexico joined the fray in 1992, issuing coins denominated 1-, 2-, 5- and 10-nuevos peso pieces with an aluminum-bronze center and a stainless steel ring.
In 1993, ringed bimetallic 20-peso coins, with a silver center inside an aluminum-bronze ring, made their debut along with 50-peso coins with a silver center and a brass ring (now, the 20-peso coin has a copper-nickel center and a brass ring).
A ringed bimetallic 100-peso coin (with silver center and aluminum-bronze ring) was introduced in 2003 for a series of 32 designs honoring each of Mexico's states and the federal district. Three versions of the coins were released, including two ringed bimetallic coins (Proof versions of the 100-peso coin have a gold center and a silver ring).
Mexico followed the conclusion of that series in late 2005 with a second series of 32 designs (offered in the same versions) honoring the states and the federal district, slated to end in 2007.
Up north, Canada has been issuing ringed bimetallic $2 coins more than 10 years. In 1996, Canada dropped the $2 note and replaced it with a $2 coin showing a polar bear. Since then, the "twoonie" (a play on "two" and the slang name for the Loon dollar coin, the "Loonie") has been quite popular.
That coin has an inner core of copper, aluminum and nickel and an outer ring of nickel.
Several design variations are available for the interested collector, and precious metal versions (of gold and silver in varying formats) have been issued on more than one occasion.
U.S. tries its hand
The United States thus far has only issued one ringed bimetallic coin, a platinum and gold $10 coin in 2000 to celebrate the Library of Congress.
Error versions surfaced shortly after the coin was issued. Coin World reported on an off-center error coin in the May 29, 2000, issue. The platinum core was positioned slightly off center during striking, and part of the metal from the core flowed over the surface of the outer gold ring on the reverse. More than a year later, a Sacagawea dollar coin struck on a hollow-center planchet that was likely produced at the Royal Canadian Mint, surfaced. Coin World reported on that in the Oct. 15, 2001, issue.
Out of the ordinary
To this point, you may have assumed that each coin has a round center, but that's not always the case, as evidenced by the Australian 2001 gold and silver $20 coin marking the Jan. 1, 2001, Centenary of the Australian Federation, struck by the Perth Mint.
The seven-sided star in the center of the coin represents the seven states and territories.
In recent years. Austria has issued coins with a colored, niobium center. Niobium is a shiny gray metal that takes on different colors when exposed to air at room temperature for varying periods of time. Austria has issued several coins using heat-treated niobium in various colors.
The world of these special coins isn't limited to two-part pieces: In 1992, France upped the ante and added a ringed trimetallic coin, with a copper-aluminum-nickel center, a nickel inner ring and a copper-aluminum-nickel outer ring.
France issued several of these ringed trimetallic coins in 1992 and 1993, depicting animals, Mont St. Michel and the father of the modern Olympics Pierre de Coubertin. Additionally, precious metal versions of the trimetallic coins were struck with a gold core, a silver inner ring and a gold outer ring, of varying finenesses.
Collecting these coins with parts is an interesting endeavor; the Worldwide Bimetallic Collectors Club has hundreds of members from across the world. It produces a weekly "newsmail" informing collectors of new issues and news relating to the subject.
It also holds occasional auctions through the newsmail and annually stages meetings at several large coin shows (including the American Numismatic Association World's Fair of Money).
To learn more about the club, visit its Web site listed above. To further explore the world of ringed bimetallic coins, consult coin books, like the Standard Catalog of World Coins by Chester Krause and Clifford Mishler.
You might just find the coins fascinating and make them the core of your collection.
