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Obverse : Image of the Head Office building of the Central Bank of Sri
Lanka, with three Flags on posts in front. 70 in large numerals
below and the years 1950-2020 at the bottom edge.
ශ්රී ලංකා මහ බැංකුව in Sinhala above;
இலங்கை மத்திய வங்கி in Thamil on left;
and CENTRAL BANK OF SRI LANKA in English on right along the periphery.
Reverse : Huge numeral 20 with
රුපියල් විස්සයි in Sinhala,
இருபது ரூபாய் in Thamil
and TWENTY RUPEES in English below.
ශ්රී ලංකා in Sinhala above;
இலங்கை in Thamil on left;
and SRI LANKA in English on right along the periphery.
The year of issue 2020 at the bottom.
The mean weight of the coins is not mentioned in the Press Release,
and just the thickness at 2 mm. Weight is of the coin I took out to
scan. The diameter is between 27.5 mm and 28.5 mm and listed as 28
mm. According to Pabitra Saha The diameter of odd sided is
always from edge to corner whereas even sided is corner to corner or
edge to edge.
Coin was scanned at 600 dpi, PhotoShoped and displayed at 254 dpi.
This coin was planed to be issued on 2020 August 20th and was delayed by the COVID-19 Pandamic, The shipment of circulation coins had not yet arrived at the time the advance limited lot of 3000 BU coins were Air-lifted and issued in 2021 January in a presentation box. with a certificate of authenticity.
Enclosed in a circular seven sided transparent pushfit plastic capsule
it is embedded in a black velvet inside a dark green rexine covered
8cm square spring hinged presentation box with the CBSL 70th
anniversary logo printed on top.
Centered on the back bottom is CHINA BANKNOTE PRINTING AND MINTING in
two lines with their logo on left. The box was packed within a white
sleave, There was a small pack of Silicagel within each box.
The bottom left of the inside cover has a small sash to hold a
numbered certificate, printed in English in front and back with Sinhala and Tamil inside.
Front top has CBSL70th logo and bottom has logo of Mint with its name
in Chinese
中国印钞造币
below in English using hardly resolved font size.
The quality of the Minting is excellant. Although listed as Brilliant Uncirculated (BU) it is clearly Proof-like. The presentation is also great with a capsule which has the shape of the 7-sided coin.
The first coin was officially
presented to the President of Sri Lanka Gotabaya
Rajapaksa, by Deshamanya Prof. W D Lakshman, Governor of CBSL at the
Presidential Secretariat on 31st December 2020.
CBSL issued a Press release on Thursday December 30th and the coin was sold at a price of Rs.1,300(US$7) through the CBSL sales counter at the Economic History Museum, and six Regional CBSL Offices in Anuradhapura, Matale, Matara, Trincomalee, Kilinochchi, and NuwaraEliya. A strict limit of one coin per customer with record of NID was adopted for fair distribution among collectors. Only 1200 will be sold to public. 600 coins in Colombo and 100 coins each will be sold in the regional centers. The remaining coins will be gifted to CBSL Staff and the rest are for the CBSL Archive and Museums.
Although the plans for a fair distribution was in place, it seems to
have been far from the reality. Many of the leading collectors have
reported to me that they were unable to get a coin as the CBSL Museum
ran out of Stocks in just a few days, There are many reports from
persons who saw while standing in long queues, that many coin packs
were purchased in quantity by staff of CBSL and that there were
protests from those in the queue. There was apparently only 25 coins
sent to the Regional branches, and one branch claimed they were all
sold 15 minutes after the office opened. It was reported to me that
they were purchased by a Military personel. Someone claimed on Facebook
that a dealer in Chatham Street was selling for Rs25,000
and was asking for Rs15,000.
Another thanked 44 Staff of CBSL on Facebook
and offered to sell at Rs8,000.
Say No to Black Marketing of coin Please don't encourage this
Black Marketing of these coins at high prices. Collectors should
decline to force the price down to maybe Rs3000 as it is not that rare.
After a few weeks it was selling for between Rs5000 and Rs8,000 (US$25 to US$40).
There is reliable information that there are still stocks in CBSL. Send a complaint to CBSL if you are genuine collector in need of a coin. The Sri Lanka Numismatic Society expects to write to CBSL about this unfortunate situation.
This is the first coin Minted in China for CBSL, by the China Banknote Printing and Minting (CBPM). This interesting fact was not mentioned in the Press release maybe for political reasons. I wonder if CBPM is now Printing and Minting an increasing number of Banknotes and Coins along the Belt and Road initiative?
The same design is used for a coin which was issued into circulation on 2021 March 3rd of a cheaper metal, Nickel plated-Steel and was also minted in China. CBSL was not willing to confirm this in January. The circulation coin will probably become the prototype for a Rs20 coin when the Rs20 banknote is discontinued. However with a face value of only about 10 US cents, it will probably not be used much in circulation, as most transactions tend to be in banknotes. The Rs1, Rs2 and the even the Rs5 are disappearing now hardly seen as transaction are rounded to nearest Rs10.
Chinese coins have been found in Yapahuwa and date back about 600 years to the period when Lanka paid tribute and was visited six times by Admiral Zheng He between 1405 and 1433.
Read my article
Chinese mint new Rs.20 coin for Central Bank
which was published in the Sunday Times of 2021 January 10th.