Financial Times

CB -No Sigiriya gold coin
The Central Bank has denied the regulator plans to issue a gold coin depicting Sigiriya and said that the bank will never mint a coin in collaboration with any other institution.

"However, there are exceptions where we issued coins together with the UN," deputy governor W. A. Wijewardena said. S. Wijesinghe, Superintendent of Currencies at the Central Bank said the regulator has learnt that there were certain individuals and organisations claiming that they have been sanctioned to mint and issue a commemorative coin depicting Sigiriya in collaboration with the Central Bank.

Wijesinghe said that there have been several queries from the general public on whether the Central Bank has authorised anyone to issue such a coin. Milton Karunaratne, managing director of International Bullion Bank (Pvt) Ltd., a BOI venture to produce gold coins, said that they have no plans to issue a coin depicting Sigiriya.

Other senior Central Bank officials said that GoldQuest, which has generated controversy with its gold coin marketing scheme, has told its clients that it aims to mint and issue a commemorative coin depicting Sigiriya in collaboration with the Central Bank, prompting the regulator to issue a warning to the public.

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