2018-03-19 Mon

The central bank of Ceylon issued a 5 Rupee coin in April 1957. It was issued to commemorate the 2500th Death anniversary of Buddha and the birth of the Ceylon (Sri Lanka). It is believed that the traditional king of Lanka, Vijay landed in Lanka in 543 BC in the same year of Buddha’s death which also defined the start of the Buddhist Era.

The obverse of this coin depicts a design adopted from the Anuradhapura Moonstone. It consists of numeral 2500 at the centre within the flower petals’ inner annulus. A procession of an elephant, horse, lion, and, bull is depicted in the middle sequence. The outer design depicts sixteen geese with lotus flowers hanging from their beaks within the flower border. .

The reverse of this coin depicts a design based on a jasmine flower surmounted by a lotus flower. The denomination is inscribed in Sinhala and year of issue 1957 in superimposing in the centre. The value Five Rupees are inscribed in English on the left and in Tamil on the right. Sri Lanka is inscribed in Sinhala in the apex and ‘Buddha Jayanthi’ at the bottom. .

This is also known as Buddha Jayanti coins and is considered as one of the most beautifully designed coins by numismatists around the world. .

Image Courtesy: Todywalla Auctions