2023 - Sri Lanka - 1000 Rupee
75th Independence Celebration

SPECIFICATIONS Denomination Rupees 1,000/- Alloy Cu-Ni Diameter 38.61 mm Thickness 3.5 mm Weight 28.28 gms Shape Round Edge Plain Die-Axis 0° Proof 2,500 Mint Royal Dutch Mint
	KM#

Obverse : Right of center, a hand holding the mast of a national lion flag in color waving to the right. The large Number 75 appears on the lower right with the period 1948 - 2023 at the bottom. The Text නිදහස් සමරුම in Sinhala on top, சுதந்திரக்‌ கொண்டாட்டம்‌ in Thamil on the right, INDEPENDENCE CELEBRATION on the left. All within a raised rim.
Reverse : Armorial sign of Sri Lanka above huge numeral 1000 at center with රුපියල් in Sinhala, ரூபாய் in Thamil and RUPEES in English below. ශ්‍රී ලංකා in Sinhala above; இலங்கை in Thamil on right; and SRI LANKA in English on left along the periphery. Centered below and year of issue 2023. All within raised rim.

The coin has been struck with one ounce of Cupro-Nickel to the British crown coin size. The frosted Proof coin enclosed in a circular coin case is embedded in black velvet inside a Black 7.5cm square spring hinged box. Large 75 in center with the periphery of obverse printed in silver on top. A Certificate of Authenticity contains the specifications and the text above in Sinhala, Tamil and English.

The artwork of the coins has been done by an unnamed Central Bank artist. The coins were minted at the Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt (Royal Dutch Mint) in Utrecht, Netherlands.

The Line Drawing of design shown above from CBSL Press release of 2023 February 2nd when an advance Specimen of presented to Ranil Wickremesinghe, the President of Sri Lanka, who is also the Finance Minister, by Dr. P. Nandalal Weerasinghe, Governor of CBSL at the President's House at Kandy, on 2023 February 2nd.
The coin presented was an advanced specimen, with the rest of 2500 NCLT coins only expected the next month.

The Proof commemorative coin was obtained from the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. It was very carefully removed from capsule by touching only the edges and scanned at 600 dpi and images displayed at 175 dpi. All but the colored Flag of scan was photoshop inverted and shows the pad printing "halo" around the flag.

The public were notified by Press release on 2023-03-08 that the coin will be available for sale at Rs.6,000(US$18) per coin from 2023-03-09 onwards, on first come, first served basis, upon obtaining personal identification details and limiting sales to one coin per person. from CBSL cash Counter which opens at 9:00. When we got to CBSL about 7:45 there were about 18 in the queue. The first couple had came at 5 and the next at 6. CBSL had put out some chair for about 25 in the queue outside in the hot Sun and 25 inside as they waited to buy the coin. A number of Buddhist Priests (who strictly should not be handling cash ), also joined the queue and were let in to sit inside, but did not get significant preference to jump the queue. Some coins were also issued at the six regional centers of CBSL at Anuradhapura Matale, Matara, Trincomalee, Kilinochchi, Nuwara Eliya. Few of regional centers issued coins only those who had e-mailed and requested a coin in advance. Overall CBSL had tried there best to have a smooth public issue of the coin.

However, CBSL Staff got 1300(unconfirmed) of the coins. Why should the CBSL staff get more than half of the public issue? Maybe OK if it was the CBSL anniversary, but Independence 75th is a public event. I doubt there are that many coin collectors among the CBSL Staff. That works out like a bonus if they sell for a higher price in the numismatic market. Few days after they sold out at CBSL they were listed on FaceBook for Rs10,000 (US$30)

This CBSL coin issue is discussed in Article displayed on right in the SundayTimes of 2023 February 5th on Page 10 of the 75th Anniversary of Independence Supplement (PDF) In commemoration of special events. Two corrections.

• Although CBSL counts this as the 71st commemorative, it is in fact the 75th if you include the Two Proofs each of the 1957 Buddha Jayanthi and 1976 Non Aligned Conference coins. CBSL counts the Proofs separately after 1986, while ignoring these 4 of which CBSL seem to have no historical record.
• The 2nd Independence commemorative Stamp with Nehru and Jinnah I mention, which was reported and confirmed by Philatelic Bureau as a concept of President Ranil Wickramasinghe, was not issued because permission could not be obtained from the Indian or Pakistan High Commissions to do this. An interesting story in itself.

CBSL issued a Cupro-Nickel for Sri Lanka's 75th Independence celebration, while it thought it fit to issue extremely expensive over priced, Gold and Silver coins in 2021 July to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party, reflecting our economic debt dependence on China.
Ms Hirunika Premachandra led a protest in Colombo noted that the Sri Lankan Government is preparing to celebrate the 75th National Independence Day with Colossal waste of funds and fuel, while the people are struggling with the severe Economic Crisis. She invited all Sri Lankans to visit Galle Face in Colombo and express their protest by wearing black bands, and holding black flags.