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Obverse : Within a plain circle, an artists impression of the famous
gilt bronze stature discovered in 1968 in the Veragala Sirisangabo
temple at Ellevera in the Anuradhapura district. This masterpiece of
Sri Lankan art, measures 49.8 cm in height and dated 8-9th century, is
now in the Colombo National Museum. It has been identified as a
representation of Bodhisattva Avalokitheshvara, an aspirant Buddha,
seated in a graceful stance.
The large Number 50 appears on the bottom with
the period 1948 and 1998 on either side.
The Text
නිදහස්
සමරුව in Sinhala on top,
சுதந்திர
ஆண்டுநிறைவு
in Thamil on the left,
INDEPENDENCE ANNIVERSARY on the right. All within a raised rim.
Reverse : The large numeral denomination 5000 left of center with
රුපියල් පන්දාහයි in Sinhala,
ஐயாயிரம் ரூபாய் in Thamil,
and FIVE THOUSAND RUPEES in 3 lines below.
The National Flag of Sri Lanka to upper right, intersecting
a circle of a traditional Sinhala 'Liyavela artwork.
Above the country name
ශ්රී ලංකා in Sinhala, centered on top with,
இலங்கை in Thamil on left
and SRI LANKA on right.
Centered below and year of issue 1998.
All within circle of radial dashes along the periphery within raised rim.
The coin has been struck in 22 caret gold equivalent to the British
sovereign coin. The Gold Proof coin enclosed in a circular coin case
is embedded in black velvet inside a Red 6.4cm square hinged
presentation box with a brass clasp. The Emblem of the Central Bank of
Sri Lanka embossed in Gold on top. The official 50th anniversary of
Independence logo is printed in black on the white satin of the inside
cover. A machine numbered Certificate of Authenticity contains the
specifications and the text above in Sinhala, Tamil and English. The
Rs 8000/- (US $125) issue price (February 1998) in Sri Lanka was the
actual cost of production of this limited edition coin. In September
1998 it was available from the
Royal Mint for US $229.
The art work of the coins has been done by the Central Bank artist, Mrs
Padmanjalee Karunatillake.
The coins were minted at the Royal Mint, Llantrisant, Mid Glamorgan
CF72 8YT, Wales, United Kingdom. R de L Holmes, Deputy Master (Chief Executive).
The set of 3 coins were approved by Lankan Cabinet on 1997 July 4th.
The coin was scaned at 600 dpi and the images are displayed at 254 dpi. The Proof commemorative coin was obtained from the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. The Central Bank has stopped the sale of these gold coins since late 2002, at which time according to their Currency issue Table they had released about 3620 coins. Sale was resumed in October 2004 with about 50% price increase to reflect price of gold. 4360 had been issued by end of that year. Sales were stopped again early in 2005.
Media Report CDN 1998 02 06