Special Occasion Coins

• Author: Sascha Djumena
• Pages: 60-61

60 FINANCE & DEVELOPMENT | September 2018

CURRENCY NOTES

COMMEMORATIVE COINS

to mark special occa sions or

events have been around for centuries. In a ncient

Rome, commemorative coins were minted to cel-

ebrate victorious militar y campaigns. Today, such

coins are issued to celebrate internationa l coopera-

tion and cultural d iversity.

Since the creation of the International Monetar y

Fund and the World Bank Group in 1944, the

leadership and member countries of both inst i-

tutions have met every autumn to add ress critical

issues facing the globa l economy. For the inau-

gural meeting of the governing body, held in the

US city of Savannah, Georgia , in March 1946, a

special brass meda l was designed depicting US

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on

one side and the outline of the state

of Georgia on the other. e

commemorative med al was

placed at each delegate’s

dinner plate.

T he s e A n n u a l

Meetings usually take

place in Wash ington,

DC, but every third

year leaders congregate abroad in one of the ins ti-

tutions’ 189 member countrie s. To commemorate

and promote the global gathering, host c ountries

take advantage of t he limelight by issuing coins,

stamps, currency notes , special medals, and other

memorabilia, often drawing at tention to their

local culture, ec onomic progress, and techno-

logical i nnovation.

Coins and bank notes are particula rly tting

given that the focus of the convening i nstitutions

includes safegua rding the global nancial s ystem.

In most cases, commemorative c oins can’t be used

to go shopping, but they do hold special value and

are sought after by collectors. For exa mple, a 1,500

piso gold coin—the rst tribute of its ki nd—issued

by the Philippines when it hosted the 1976 Annual

Meetings can fetc h more than $1,500 at auction.

Its current face value is $28. a iland, Spain,

the Czech Republic, the United Arab E mirates,

Singapore, Turkey, and Japan all followed suit by

issuing their own un ique coins.

ailand went a step fur ther in 1991, issuing

a special commemorative folder containi ng

banknotes of 10, 20, 50, 100, and 500 baht

that were overprinted with “1991 World Bank

Group/IMF Annual Meeti ngs” in both ai

and English at the bottom and “Specimen”

diagonally across each note.

Symbolically, each set of commemorative

coins represents the progress and wonder of

the host nation and is produced using the late st

minting technology. In Dubai in 2003, the

United Arab Emirates bec ame the rst country

to use color in an Annua l Meetings coin design.

In 2006, when Singapore played host, coins were

PHOTO: IM F

Special Occasion Coins

Commemorative material highlights an annual global gathering

Sascha Djumena

Symbolically, each set of

commemorative coins

represents the progress and

wonder of the host nation.