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Obverse : At center the Armorial Ensign of Sri Lanka Air Force with an Eagle with wings outspread.
Sheaves of Paddy on either side of annulus with
ශ්රී ලංකා
ගුවන් හමුදාව
and a banner below with the Motto
සුරකිමු
ළකඹර(Protect LakaAir?) in Sinhala only.
The National logo on top. The period 1951 2001 on either side.
ශ්රී ලංකා
ගුවන් හමුදාව
in Sinhala at bottom,
இலங்கை
விமானப்படை
in Thamil on left
and SRI LANKA AIR FORCE on right,
along periphery within raised rim.
Reverse : Within a plain circle An artist's impression of three
planes used by the Sri Lanka Air Force. Below is the Chipmunk, used in
its early days, and above are a KFIR and a MIG 27 used currently.
Centered in between the value in 3 lines
රුපියලයි in Sinhala,
ஒரு ரூபாய் in Thamil, and ONE RUPEE.
Name of country
ශ්රී ලංකා in Sinhala centered on top,
இலங்கை in Thamil on left,
and SRI LANKA on right, with the year of issue 2001 at bottom, along periphery with raised rim.
The Cupro-Nickel Proof has been minted to the old standard Rs. 1/- still in circulation. The artwork was done by Central Bank artist Mrs Padmanjalee Karunatilleke. Minted by the Royal Mint, Liantrisant, United Kingdom.
The Proof coin enclosed in a clear plastic circular coin capsule is
embedded in black velvet inside a 7.7 cm square light blue rexine
coverred metal box. The words "SRI LANKA AIR FORCE 50TH ANIVERSARY
2ND MARCH 2001" in 3 lines are printed in Gold on top
and the CBSL Emblem in black on the white satin of the inside cover. A
machine numbered white card Certificate of Authenticity printed in
blue and black contains the specifications and description in Sinhala,
Tamil and English is tucked into white satin band across lower-left
corner of inside cover. The issue price (March 2001) in Sri Lanka Rs
600/- (US $7).
This limited commemorative coin was not issued for circulation at face value. The very large primium relative to face was the largest for any coin issue before then. It was only issued as a Cupro-Nickel Proof unlike the previous commemorative 1 rupee Army coin and Navy coin. which were also issued as Brillient Uncirculated Nickel clad Steel coins which are attracted by magnets.
Media Report 2001 03 09 CDN
I thank Shehan Patterson of HSBC for obtaining this commemorative coin for me from the Central Bank which makes no arrangements to sell to collectors abroad. It is a Pity CBSL translates their poor marketing to a lack of interest, which probably led to their decision to limit the Mintage.
I understand that minting just 2000 proof coins with box can cost almost the US$14,000 which is the premium at which they were sold out by CBSL within one month of issue. I was told that 1200 were given to AirForce and just 800 sold to Public.
This has clearly become a very rare coin to find for any Lanka
collection. I was told that someone purchased over 250 of the coins
sold to public and has artificially increased the rarity, and
exploiting it by only selling one or two each year for a very high
price. Two have been reported as having been found from circulation.