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Obverse : Portrait of Sri Lanka President H.E. Ranansinghe Premadasa within a circle of beads.
The year of issue 1992 appears at the bottom centre. A traditional Sinhala
design using a circle of swans along periphery with raised rim.
Reverse : Two traditional Sinhala lions with swords face each
other above His Excellency the President's flag depicted at the center.
The Value as
රුපියලයි in Sinhala,
and
ஒரு ரூபாய் in Thamil,
and ONE RUPEE below, with traditional Sinhala Liyavela art near four corners of flag.
The country name
ශ්රී ලංකා in Sinhala, centered on top,
இலங்கை in Thamil on left,
and SRI LANKA on right. All within a circle of arches between dots along periphery with raised rim.
In addition to 2,500 Cupro-Nickel frosted Proof coins, off-metal Proof strikes were minted in Silver(2,000) and in Sovereign Gold(100) with identical design. The Gold and Silver coins were POMS (Presentation Off-Metal Strike). These coins were not released to public. They were given as gifts by the President. Two each of the silver & gold coins are on display at the Currency Museum of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. I got them finally listed in Krause in the 2002 edition.
This silver coins was finally released to the public almost 15 years after
minting in 2006 October with an issue price of Rs 750/- (US$ 7.).
The Silver Proof coin enclosed in a hard clear plastic circular coin capsule is
embedded in black velvet inside a Green 7.5 cm square hinged presentation box
which has the lion emblem of the Central Bank with a ring of swans like on
obverse of coin printed in gold on top. White satin of the inside cover has the
Sri Lanka Armorial ensign printed in black. The folded certificate of Authenticity
in English, with no serial number, was printed by Central Bank Press, in Black and
Silver on Green paper.
For the Gold coin the certificate of Authenticity was similer, printed in Black and
Gold on Green paper.
The Frosted surface of the effigy makes the Proof coin distinctly different from the circulation issue. The Silver Proof has the same weight is the same as standard issue and is therefore 10.5% or 0.18 mm thinner than the Cupro-Nickel coin. The Mirror finish of the silver frosted Proof is distinctly better than that of the Cupro-Nickel frosted Proof
Read my article, an edited version of which was published as Lanka's first silver rupee in the Sunday Times of 2006 October 15th.
The Silver frosted Proof coin was scanned at 600 dpi and the images are
displayed at 254 dpi. The commemorative Proof coin were obtained from the Central
Bank of Sri Lanka in 2006 October.