2022 - Sri Lanka - 1000 Rupees
Sri Lanka - China - Gold
65 Years of Diplomatic Relations

SPECIFICATIONS Denomination Rupees Thousand Alloy Gold 0.916 Diameter 25.4 mm Thickness 2.0 mm Weight 12.0 gms Shape Circular Edge Grained Die-Axis 0° Issue 500 Mint CBPM, China.
	KM# 2??

Obverse : Front view of the Nelum Pokuna Mahinda Rajapakse Theater centered below the crossed National Flag of China on the left and Sri Lanka on the right. Year 2022 in large numerals below. ශ්‍රී ලංකා - චීන වසර 65 යි in Sinhala above; இலங்கை - சீனா 65 ஆண்டுகள் in Thamil on right; and SRI LANKA - CHINA 65 YEARS in English on left along the periphery.
Reverse : Numeral 100 with years 1921-2021 below with legend චීන කොමියුනිස්ට් පක්ෂය in Sinhala; சீனப் பொதுவுடைமைக் கட்சி in Thamil; and COMMUNIST PARTY OF CHINA in 3 lines below. Huge numeral 1000 with රුපියල් in Sinhala, ரூபாய் in Thamil and RUPEES in English below along periphery. ශ්‍රී ලංකා in Sinhala above; இலங்கை in Thamil on right; and SRI LANKA in English on left along the periphery.

Coin was scanned at 600 dpi, PhotoShoped and displayed at 254 dpi.

CBSL issued a Press release on Tuesday July 6th and the coin is to be sold at a price of Rs.222,000(US$1100) for Gold Coin . The limited lot of 400 Frosted Proof Gold coins were issued on 2021 July 12 in a presentation box, with a certificate of authenticity.
On the International bullion value on issue date
the Gold coin with 1.5 Gold Sovereigns or (0.3531 AGW) at US$1810 per troy ounce(31.1035 grams), had US$640 of Gold (Melt 58% of issue price). CBSL insists that the coins are being sold at cost and include cost of Packing, Air Freight, Customs Duty etc.

Enclosed in a circular transparent pushfit plastic capsule which was sealed within a transparent plastic sachet. That needs to be cut open to embed capsule in a black velvet inside the Green rexine covered 8x9cm square spring hinged presentation box with the Sri Lanka-China 65th anniversary logo printed in Gold colour 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 Dark Green sleeve in a polythene bag. There was a small pack of Silica-gel within each box. On the left of the inside cover has a small sash to hold a numbered certificate, printed is in English in front and back and Sinhala and Tamil inside. Front has cnlk-dpl65 logo on top and the logo of Mint with its name in English at bottom.

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 2021 July 6th.

Read my article CB wastes valuable foreign exchange on non-circulating coins which was published in the Sunday Times of 2021 July 11th.

The news that the CB was going to issue a commemorative coin to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of CCP was revealed in a Facebook post on June 16 by Dr. Waruna Chandrakeerthi, a former employee of CB who got his Ph.D. in China. According to him the suggestion came from one local politician who wanted to put the CCP logo on the obverse of the coin. At a planning meeting, a Chinese representative who did not like proposal suggested as an alternative celebrate the 65th anniversary of China-Sri Lanka diplomatic relations in 2022. So the coin issued commemorates both.

I am of the opinion CBSL should have used the Colombo Port City built by the Chinese, rather than CCP100, and issued a well-designed coin in 2022, rather than a rush job on a very expensive coin. The 1998 coins for the 50th Anniversary of Sri Lanka Independence were beautiful works of art, not just over priced Bullion.

Queue to buy Gold and Silver coins outside CBSL Cash counter

To an enquiry (Thu 11AM) CBSL Currency Dept replied (Thu 12PM) Regret to inform you that card payment cannot be allowed, you can only pay by cash. If you want to reserve the coin to collect on 12.07.2021, please send us an email currency @ cbsl.lk mentioning your coin requirement and the NIC number.
After I sent my request (Thu 5PM) and CBSL confirmed reservation (Fri 10AM) CBSL sent a second E-mail (Fri 1PM) saying they would be sold on first come first served basis. Then a third E-mail came on (Sat 9PM) saying only the Silver will be sold from EHM and that the Gold & Silver from the CBSL Cash Counter from 9:30AM. I joined the queue at about 9AM and soon to my surprise there were over 60 people. They first let in about 20 who had come before 8AM who's IDs had been recorded in order and sent away to return after 9AM. Inside had seating for 5, keeping with social distancing. They allowed persons to buy as many as they required. They ticked you name of the Reservation. I saw and was reported to me that some local and most Chinese persons carried away many coin packs. The queue at EHM for only the silver coin was about as long, but I am told had a separate shorter queue for the Chinese.
Two days later CBSL told that all of the Gold and most of the silver coins had been sold. I suspect mostly to the Chinese community now working on various projects in Sri Lanka.

See also feature article in the Island Newspaper 2021-07-18 referencing this coin issue and this video.

For nearly the 25 years I have purchased individual coins and banknotes, I have limited my collection to less than US$300 numismatic premium, which for a coin with US$640 gold is US$940. This gold coin at US$1100 exceeded this limit. I am anoyed that I had to break my limit to buy it.