Eesti Pank is halting sales of the gold coin for the Livonian Diet through the online store and the museum shop of the central bank, as a production error has been identified that causes stains to appear on the coin over time. Eesti Pank apologises to all those who have already bought a gold coin and has confirmed that everybody who has bought a defective coin can either get a refund or exchange the coin for a high-quality replacement one.

“We are doing everything we can to issue the high-quality replacement coins to all purchasers. They can also claim a refund instead if they prefer. We are very sorry that such a production error has arisen and we apologise to all those who have already bought one of the gold coins”, said head of the Cash and Infrastructure Department at Eesti Pank Rait Roosve.

He emphasised that it is very important that if anyone who has bought one of the gold coins wants to inspect it more closely, they must not open the plastic packaging capsule that it is in, as doing so could easily damage the surface of the coin. An inspection of a sample of the coins found that it contained some of the coins that had been rejected during production, and so now all of the coins need to undergo a full quality control. In most cases the defect cannot be identified with the naked eye, and can be seen only with a microscope or a magnifying glass.

Eesti Pank is working urgently with the Portuguese mint that minted the coins to establish why the production error occurred, so that it would not occur again in future. The central bank is also working to produce new high-quality gold coins as replacements as quickly as possible.

The coins minted by the Portuguese mint reached Eesti Pank in June, after undergoing quality control at the mint. Eesti Pank carried out a further thorough quality control when the coins arrived, in which each coin was inspected and there was a spot check with magnifying glass and microscope. No stains or other problems were found during the quality control in June.

The mintage of the gold coin for the Livonian Diet was 3000. The coins were minted by the Portuguese mint.

Advice for people who have bought one of the gold coins

1. Coins purchased through the Omniva online store. All purchasers will be contacted by email giving them detailed information on their order. This email should arrive in the coming days once the central bank has received more information from the mint. The email will be sent to all purchasers whether or not they have already received their coin. In any case they will be able to cancel their purchase or receive a high-quality new coin instead.
2. Coins purchased from the Eesti Pank Museum shop. The central bank is requesting all purchasers to return their coins to the museum shop for quality control. After that, purchasers can decide whether to cancel their purchase and receive a refund, or have their defective coin exchanged for a high-quality new one.

Further information on the gold coin is available by telephone on 66 80 650 or by email at [email protected].

The Eesti Pank Museum shop is open from Tuesdays to Fridays 12-17 and on Saturdays at 11-16.