The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) completed 60 years and to mark the event, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka issued a commemorative two rupee coin into circulation on March 2. The coin is minted to the existing standard of a Rs 2 coin which is nickel plated steel and issued only in circulation condition by the Royal Mint, Liantrisant, United Kingdom.

The obverse has the logo of the Sri Lanka Air Force 60th Anniversary at the centre and the years `1951-2011' below. The words SRI LANKA AIR FORCE in Sinhala, Tamil and English appear at the top, left and right sides along the periphery.

The logo has a large 60 with the Armorial Ensign of Sri Lanka Air Force on the 6. There is also an artist's impression of four planes used by the Sri Lanka Air Force. Below is the Chipmunk, used in its early days, and above are a Mil Mi-24 ground attack helicopter, Hercules C-130 transport aircraft and a F7 GS Thunderbolt fighter used currently. The reverse is the standard Rs 2 coin with the date 2011.

The obverse of the coin designed by the Sri Lanka Air Force has clearly been inspired by the 50th anniversary logo. The 50th anniversary Air Force 1 rupee coins of which only 2000 were minted and only 800 released to the public in 2001 March at Rs 600 was sold out in under one month. It is the most difficult Sri Lanka commemorative coin to find and is now sold by dealers for over Rs 15,000 if any come on the numismatic market.

The decision to issue the new coin was made too late to have them minted in time of the opening of the 60th Air Force Anniversary exhibition. An advance lot of only 93 coins arrived on March 1, just in time for a few to be gifted to President Mahinda Rajapaksa and few other dignitaries at that event. A press release issued by CBSL on March 7 states that coins will be issued to public circulation in April 2011. Mintage is listed as three Million in a docket printed by the Air Force.

To read the complete article, see:60 years of flying high sealed with a coin(www.sundaytimes.lk/110313/Plus/plus_11.html)

For more information, see the coin's page on Kavan's web site:2011 - Sri Lanka - 2 RupeeSri Lanka Air Force60th Anniversary(coins.lakdiva.org/commemorative/2011_airforce60_2r.html)