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Obverse : Image of the Summit of Sri Pada Mountain below a 24 prong
Dharma Chakra (wheel of doctrine) found on the stone pillar built by
the Emperor Ashoka at Saranath in Varanasi within a plain circle.
The anniversary
බුදධ
ජයනති
in Sinhala on top
புத்த
ஜயந்தி
in Thamil on upper left
and BUDDHA JAYANTHI on upper right, and 2550 at bottom, within annulus
with a circle of dashes along periphery of raised rim.
Reverse : The large numeral denomination 5 with big
රුපියල් පහයි in Sinhala,
and smaller
ஐந்து ரூபாய் in Thamil
and FIVE RUPEES
superimposed and year of issue 2006 at the bottom.
The country name
ශ්රී ලංකා in Sinhala, centered on top,
இலங்கை in Thamil
on left and SRI LANKA on Right. All within circle of dashes along periphery with raised rim.
Edge : The coin is 2.7 MM thick and has incused lettering on milled edge as
ශ්රී . ලං . ම . බැ . in Sinhala,
இ . ம . வ . in Thamil
and C . B . S . L ..
Minted to the specification of the definitive decimal currency Five Rupee brass plated Steel coin with a milled edge, it was first announced on 2006 May 11th and first issued to public on May 15th. It will circulate along side the older coin which remain legal tender.
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The line drawing of SriPada sent by CBSL clearly illustrates the steps
up the side of the mountain and the buildings on top. However the
engraving and reduction of scale at Royal Mint seems to have returned
SriPada back to nature.
The year 1957 on the 2500 B.E. coin and the 2006 date on the 2550 B.E. coin is going to confuse many numismatists who are unaware that the Buddhist Era in Sri Lanka changes on Vesak (May) Full Moon Poyaday. However in reality the difference is even greater. The 2550 B.E. year is on the standard Buddhist Era calender which is started on 544 BCE. The Mahavamsa clearly states that the coronation of Emperor Asoka (265 BCE. was 218 B.E. or years after Buddha's Parinibbana at age 80. So with modern historical dating 2006 is 2489 years after the Parinibbana of the Buddha, and 2569 years after the birth depicted on the silver coins. In reality it is now 2550 years from when the Prince Siddhartha became 19 years old. | 
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Looking at recent News reports I notice that the year 2550 is associated with either the Birth in east Asia and Parinibbana in south Asia. Is the difference associated with the Mahayana and Hinayana traditions ?
Read my article, an edited version of which was published as Coins of tribute in the Sunday Times of 2006 May 21st.
The coin was scanned at 600 dpi and the images are displayed at
254 dpi. Proof-like and enclosed by Royal Mint, in a small
plastic capsule, it is one of few distributed at 2550 Buddha Jayanthi
inauguration held at the Presidential Secretariat at 4 PM on Thursday
2006 May 11th.