MAURITIUS
Two things...
The Recent Coins of Mauritius
The Bi-metallic 20 Rupee Coin
The Recent Coins of Mauritius
The Mauritius 10 Rupees 1997 - their newest circulation
denomination.
The above 10 Rupee coin is the newest and highest circulation
denomination
for Mauritius. This coins was introduced in 1997. This was the same
year
as the new and smaller 50 Pence coins was introduced in Great Britain,
these coins are both seven-sided (to use the correct term -
equilateral-curved-heptagon)
and of Copper-Nickel and the50 Pence coins are just slightly larger in
diameter than the 10 Rupee coins (28.3mm vs. 28.0mm). This similarity
(and
a few historical reasons) makes it quite possible that the British
Royal
Mint made these coins for Mauritius. The other circulation coins
portraying
Ramgoolam are of denominations 1 Cent, 5 Cents, 20 Cents, 1/2 Rupee, 1
Rupee and 5 Rupees.
The Mauritius 5 Cents 1999 - I currently know of no
newer
5 Cents coins of Mauritius.
The SCWC 2003 (30th Edition) misses a few of the current circulation
coins of Mauritius (by date). New dates I know of are 5 Cents KM-52 of
1995 and 1999; 20 Cents KM-53 of 1996 and 2001; 1/2 Rupee KM-54 of 1997
and 2002; 1 Rupee KM-55 of 2002 and 10 Rupees KM-61 of 2000.
The dates on 1 Rupee coins of 1997 and 2002.
There is one notable thing about these most recent coins of
Mauritius
- the date digits on the 1 Rupee of 2002 are smaller and of a different
font to the date digits on earlier dates of this type. No other
differences
are apparent for the 1 Rupee 2002 coins.
The Bi-metallic 20 Rupee CoinA Bank of Mauritius communiqué
dated 6th December 2007 announced the country’s new 20 Rupees
bi-metallic circulation coin…
https://www.bom.mu/pdf/Notes_and_coins/coin/denomination_coin.pdf
A speech by the bank’s governor on that day launched this new
circulation coin and a silver-proof commemorating the 40th anniversary
of the Bank of Mauritius, the country’s central bank…
http://www.bis.org/review/r071228e.pdf?frames=0
Further details on the silver-proof 200 Rupees coin, struck by Monnaie
de Paris and first available for sale on 10th December 2007 can be
found here…
https://www.bom.mu/Ecommerce/Default.asp?id=Display&Ref=CC1
Mauritius 20 Rupees 2007 (scales to about 210dpi)
The obverse of the new coin type is as per the other current issue
coins of Mauritius:- the portrait of the late Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam
KT with the surrounding inscription “DR THE RIGHT HONOURABLE SIR
SEEWOOSAGUR RAMGOOLAM KT”. This man was the first Prime Minister of
Mauritius and before that he had been the country's only ever Chief
Minister. In all, he held one then the other of these positions from
1961 to 1982.
The reverse design features the front façade of Bank of
Mauritius Tower, over which there are two lines of text super-imposed
“20” and “RUPEES”, this on the core. On the ring part of the coin are
the legends “MAURITIUS 2007" above-around and "TWENTY RUPEES"
below-around. Opened in 2006, this twenty-two storey building is the
head quarters of the Bank of Mauritius. It is the country’s largest
building and is to be found on Royal Street in Port Luis, the capital
of Mauritius.
Quite a number of years ago, I re-call reading mintage related details
in reports on the website of the Bank of Mauritius. These were actually
lists of figures regarding the cumulative face value of the coins
issued by the bank. The financial year for the Bank of Mauritius comes
to an end at the end of June each year. The annual report of the Bank
of Mauritius for 2011/2012 (i.e. the year ending 30th June 2012)
implies that about 7.4 million of the 20 Rupees 2007 had been issued by
mid-2012 and that this was about eight-hundred thousand more than had
been issued up until the same time the year before.
The relevant figures can be found on page 100 of the 2011/2012 annual
report, see page 102 of the pdf file here… https://www.bom.mu/pdf/Research_and_Publications/Annual_Report/AnnualRep2012/AnnualReport2012.pdf
Still only the date “2007” is known for this type. This will be
controlled by the Bank of Mauritius. I wonder what will need to happen
for them to authorise a date change.
Mauritius Tokens Page
Back to AFRICA main page.
Fully revised "The Recent Coins of Mauritius" with "new dates" info
and added date styles image all at June 2003.
Added "The Bi-metallic 20 Rupee Coin" at May
2013.