COIN COMMEMORATES POPE'S VISIT TO SRI LANKA

At the request of the Sri Lanka Catholic Bishop’s Conference a commemorative Rs. 500 sterling silver crown size frosted Proof Non-circulating Legal Tender (NCLT) coin was issued by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CB) to mark the visit of Pope Francis from January 13 to 15th . It is the first commemorative coin issued by CB, in recognition of a Christian religious event.

The coin was presented to the Pope Francis by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe at an event hosted by President Maithripala Sirisena at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo.

Obverse : In the centre is an image of Pope Francis. Within a circle of 120 dots is a ring of 33 honeysuckle flowers in the traditional Sinhala artistic style. Number 33, is considered a sacred number in the Christian tradition, based on the estimated lifetime of Jesus Christ.

Reverse: In the centre is the official logo for the visit. The periphery is decorated with a Liywela made out of 40 floral designs each with Na flowers, 3 Na buds and 3 Na leaves, within a circle of 120 dots. Na, the National Tree of Sri Lanka, is used in the statue of Our Lady of Lanka – representing the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ.

The coin was designed by Rev. Fr. Priyantha Silva, Archdiocesan Consultant on Ecclesiastical Arts and Architecture.

This limited edition of 1500 coins was made at Mincovna Kremnica in Slovak Republic with one ounce of sterling silver to the Buddha Jayanthi Rs. 5 silver coin size. Enclosed in a circular coin capsule, it is embedded in red velvet inside a white leatherette covered 6.5cm square spring hinged presentation box with white satin inside cover. A printed numbered Certificate of Authenticity contains the specifications and the text in English, Sinhala and Tamil. The frosted proof coin should never be removed from capsule and touched by hand as finger prints will ruin the numismatic value.

To read the complete article, see:
Silver coin to commemorate Papal visit to Sri Lanka (www.sundaytimes.lk/150125/business-times/silver-coin-to-commemorate-papal-visit-to-sri-lanka-131519.html)

For more information on Kavan's web site, see:
2015 - Pope Francis Visit SRI LANKA - 500 Rupee (http://coins.lakdiva.org/commemorative/2015_popefrancisvisit_500r.html)

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