SRI LANKA TO REPLACE NOTE WITH NEW COIN

Dr. Kavan Ratnatunga writes:

On March 3, the Central Bank (CB) issued into circulation a new Rs.20 commemorative coin to mark the 70th Anniversary of the CB. Five million coins have been minted by China Mint in Nickel-plated steel similar in all other respects to the limited edition of 3000 commemorative coin minted in Aluminum bronze that was issued on January 1 in a presentation box and sold for Rs.1300 each from the CB Museum. These circulation coins will be only available through commercial banks since the CB cash counter has been closed since the start of the pandemic.

This is the first time a Rs. 20 coin was minted and is expected to replace the Rs.20 currency note shortly. The Rs.10 note last printed with a 2006 date was replaced with a coin in 2009. Only time will tell if these Rs.20 coins will circulate, for the higher denomination coin to become familiar to the general public. Many of the CB commemorative coins are unfortunately not seen much in circulation. I suspect that the CB vault issues the regular issue in preference to the commemorative issue. This also makes it difficult for coin collectors to find these coins in circulation, and often only seen, sold by dealers, a few times the face value.

To read the complete article, see:
New Rs. 20 coin to replace Rs.20 note (http://www.sundaytimes.lk/210307/business-times/new-rs-20-coin-to-replace-rs-20-note-434302.html)

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