Days ahead of an election widely expected to weaken its grip on power, Myanmar’s government has announced the release of commemorative coins to mark its five-year rule.
The 92 per cent silver coins, emblazoned with a royal white elephant, feature both English and Myanmar writing denoting their symbolic worth as K5,000 but cannot be spent, according to state-run newspaper the Global New Light of Myanmar.
Rather, they will cost K30,000 and be sold at Myanmar Gem Enterprise’s sales centers.
The country’s currency, the kyat, is solely paper, though K5 coins were released in the 1990s. They are now incredibly rare.
The New Light did not elaborate on what prompted the move, which comes ahead of Sunday’s general election, expected to bring huge gains for the opposition.
Whatever happens, we’ll always have the coins.
Photo / Global New Light of Myanmar
