|
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| KM# 168 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Obverse : Portrait of monk with traditional fan, with Years 1753 and 2003
to upper left and right. Numeric 250 centered with
සයමොපසම්පදා
සංවත්සරය in Sinhala in arc below
சியமோபசம்பத
ஆண்டுநிறைவு
in Thamil on left and
SYAMOPASAMPADA ANNIVERSARY on right within plain circle open at top.
වැලිවිට
ශ්රි
සරණඬකර
සඬඝරාජ
මාහිමි
in Sinhala on top
வெலிவிட்ட
ஸ்ரீ
சரணங்கர
சங்கராஜ
மாஹிமி
in Thamil on left
and WELIWITA SRI SARANANKARA SANGHARAJA MAHIMI
on right along periphery with raised rim.
Reverse : The large numeral denomination 5 with big
රුපියල් පහයි in Sinhala,
and smaller
ஐந்து ரூபாய் in Thamil
and FIVE RUPEES
superimposed and year of issue 2003 at the bottom.
The country name
ශ්රී ලංකා in Sinhala, centered on top,
இலங்கை in Thamil
on left and SRI LANKA on Right. All within circle of dashes along periphery with raised rim.
Edge : The coin is 2.7 MM thick and has incused lettering on edge in
ශ්රී . ලං . ම . බැ . in Sinhala,
இ . ம . வ . in Thamil
and C . B . S . L ..
The Nickel-Brass coin has been minted to the existing standard Rs. 5/- in circulation and issued as a pair with coin for Thai monk Ven. Phravara Upali Nahimi.
Ven. Weliwita Sri Saranankara Sangharaja whose untiring efforts resulted in the establishment of upasampada (higher ordination) in Lanka in 1753. Ven. Phravara Upali Nahimi headed the Siamese mission of monks who arrived in Sri Lanka to establish upasampada. Read the 18th Century diplomatic success story
This pair are the first Lankan coins issued with a non-head of state on the obverse. Their issue was controversal as many felt the Buddhist vinaya which does not allow monks to touch money, was being broken by these circulation coins which may also be used in unethical financial transactions. I understand CBSL chose a circulation issue for economic reasons since they were able to have them minted at no extra cost to the standard issue. The original order of 10-million of each type has been reduced to 5-million of each, probably due to the controversy.
The Ministry of Buddha Sasana sold the coins to the public in square white plastic boxes (Approx. 2 Inch) with a sponge. Sinhala Text in a semi circle poorly printed on the transparent top. Only one pair of boxes were sold for Rs 70/- to any person.
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka sold to the public in a 3 panel folder with 10 coins (5 each).
Hopefully like the Buddha Jayanthi coins most will go out of circulation and saved by the public.
The Design of coins were based on those provided by the Ministry of Buddha Sasana. Including all of long names and text in all three national languages, Sinhala, Tamil and English must have been quite a challenge for the coin designers. The upper coin uses an extra inner arc of text in Tamil and English, while the lower coin abbreviates the name in English.
The coin scanned at 600 dpi and the images are displayed at 250 dpi. The Brilliant uncirculated commemorative coin with minimum bag marks were selected from coins obtained from the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. I thank Shehan Patterson for getting me the coins and Don Camp for bringing them. I had them in USA within 10 days of issue in Sri Lanka.
The Sri Lanka Postal Service refused to accept the coins for posting without Exchange Control Permission although it is legal to take out under Rs 1000/- in Sri Lanka currency when leaving the country.
Media Reports
CSO 2002 08 25
- CDN 2003 07 12