| SPECIFICATIONS | |
| Denomination | Rupees 500/- |
| Alloy | Gold (500.0 Au) |
| Diameter | 14.0 mm |
| Thickness | 0.95 mm |
| Weight | 1.6 gms |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | plain |
| Die-Axis | 0° |
| Proof | 8,000 |
| Mint | Royal,Wales |
Two commemorative coins were issued by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka in December 1991 for the South Asian Federation (SAF) Games V was held in Colombo. A five hundred rupee gold proof coin was issued together with an one hundred rupee silver proof coin.
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| KM# 153 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Obverse : A seated figure of "KUVERA" the God of wealth
crowned and clad in a dhoti holding in the left hand a vase - "the
vase of plenty" symbolising prosperity, a lamp to the left and a fire
altar to the right, The edge of the coin will have a beaded circle
with 91 beads depicting the year 1991 on the periphery of the coin.
`Sri Lanka' in Sinhala appear at the apex of the coin and in Tamil and
English on either side.
Reverse : The logo of the SAF Games. `SAF GAMES
V COLOMBO' in English. The legal tender value `FIVE HUNDRED RUPEES'
in Sinhala, Tamil and English and the year of issue `1991' below and
numerals `500' at the apex.
The 12 carat gold coin is of the same design as the ancient gold coin of Sri Lanka known as 1/8. "Kalanda" or "AKA".
The Gold Proof coin enclosed in a hard plastic circular coin capsule is embedded in black velvet inside a red 7.6 cm square spring hinged box with a plain gold 6 cm square printed on top. The Emblem of the SAF games is printed in black on the white satin of the inside cover. Sealed in polythene bag with Royal Mint printed on outside, and pasted paper Label with SL91GPX and date 25.10.91. When opened a small slip of paper said Sealed at the ROYAL MINT Liantrisant Pontyclun Mid. Glam. CF7 8YT United Kingdom. The issue price I remember(?) as Rs 700/- (US$16.50) It was the first commemorative issue released at higher than face to cover cost of packaging.
Need to recheck number of Proofs minted. Fax from CBSL lists 8K but Krause lists 3K. Maybe there was an subsequent order.
The coin was scaned at 300dpi and the images are displayed at 300dpi. The uncirculated commemorative coins were obtained from the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.