The Mint Directors Conference (MDC) provides a forum for coinage matters of mutual interest for the directors of mints and issuing authorities around the world. It also rules the CRO through its board. At the core of the CRO’s mission is a database listing various circulating coins of the world. Its mission has been progressively enlarged.

Nowadays its main task is to make it possible for any country’s Issuing Authority (Central Bank, Treasury Departement or Governmental Mint) in the world to check, before issuing a new coin, that its technical characteristics are different from those of coins already circulating in other countries.

This verification is important for all issuing authorities, but is on the other hand only possible if, for all countries of the world, Mints or Treasuries or Issuing Bodies do participate in this common database.
The CRO’s wish nowadays is to increase the number of countries participating in the Coin Registration Office to provide a more comprehensive and consistent database and is pleased to invite each country to join.

The coin information required are data that usually are publicly available. In some cases, there are more technical parameters. However, all the information stored by the Coin Registration Office is held in strictest confidentiality and has no finality to be revealed or transmitted as a whole to any other Mint or other organisation, governmental or private body.

When a country intends to issue a new coin, the Coin Registration Office will provide its Mint or competent Issuing Authority with the names of the Mints or Issuing Authorities having already issued coins of similar specifications. The confrontation of projected coin with existing coin(s) happens then, for the project country, to turn into a challenge consisting in adapting the specifications of the projected coin enough to be sufficiently different from the existing coin(s).

The C.R.O. is used to work in collaboration with the European Technical Scientific Center. In line with Regulation (EC) 1338/2001, the European Technical & Scientific Centre (ETSC) carries out the analysis classification of new stamped counterfeit euro coins. The Council decided, in December 2003, that the Commission ensures the functioning of the ETSC and the co-ordination of the activities of the competent technical authorities to protect the euro coins against counterfeiting. In October 2004, the Commission decided to establish formally the ETSC in the European Anti-fraud Office (OLAF). Related to European Antifraud Office, the ETSC is hosted by the Laboratory of the French Mint.

The criteria are taking into account the possible interferences between coins in both fields of traditionnal trade (from hand to hand) and automated trade (through vending machines).