Thailand: Commemorative coins to be issued in 2010

On 22nd December, the Treasury department of Thailand announced plans for release of commemorative coins during the year 2010.

1. 100 years of Command and General Staff College, Royal Thai Army
a) 10 Baht Bi-metallic coin
Earlier post on this coin can be seen at:
http://numis-asia.blogspot.com/2009/07/thailand-new-commemorative-coins.html

2. World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Global Leader Award to HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej
a) 16,000 Baht 99% Gold proof coin to be sold @ 25,000 Baht
b) 800 Baht 99% Silver proof coin to be sold @ 1,400 Baht
c) 20 Baht Cupro-nickel coin
Earlier post on this coin can be seen at:
http://numis-asia.blogspot.com/2009/12/thailand-new-commemorative-coins.html

3. 84th Birthday of HRH Princess Bejaratana
Princess Bejaratana Rajasuda Sirisobhabannavadi (pronounced Pet-Cha-Rat, born 24 Nov 1925) is the only daughter of late HM King Rama 6. She is a first cousin of current HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama 9).
a) 800 Baht Silver coin to be sold @ 800 Baht
b) 20 Baht Cupro-nickel coin
c) 10 Baht Bi-metallic coin

4. 150th Birthday of HRH Prince Bhanurangsi Savangwongse
HRH Prince Bhanurangsi Savangwongse was Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Siamese Army during the reign of HM King Rama 5 who was his half-brother. He is also the founder of the Thai postal service.
a) 10 Baht Bi-metallic coin

5. "Father of Thai Trade" title given to HM King Rama 3
On 4th November 2008, the Cabinet of Thailand passed a resolution to felicitate HM King Rama 3 as the Father of Thai Trade.
a) 20 Baht Cupro-nickel coin

6. 150 years of Royal Thai Mint
The Royal Thai Mint was established in 1860, under the Royal Decree of HM King Rama 4, inside the Grand Palace, in the same building where the bullet coins had been made, and named "Rong Kasap Sitthikarn". Flat coins are minted since then.
a) 50 Baht Cupro-nickel coin

Wish all readers a very Merry Christmas...

Thailand: Update on new circulation coins

On 16th December, Dr. Pruektichai Damrongrat, the Deputy Minister of Finance went on TV to announce that Thailand will soon have not only 20 Baht circulation coins but also 50 Baht coins. The Treasury department has been asked to work with Bank of Thailand to speed up production of these coins.

Interesting development but I for one do not like carrying coins in my wallet. As if 20 Baht coins are not heavy enough, 50 Baht coins will probably be a pain to carry in a wallet.

Earlier post on this subject can be seen at:
http://numis-asia.blogspot.com/2009/08/thailand-new-20-baht-circulation-coin

Thailand: New signature 500 Baht note in circulation

Like Pick 107 but new signatures of Korn Chatikavanij (กรณ์ จาติกวณิช, Minister of Finance) and Tarisa Watanagase (ธาริษา วัฒนเกส, Governor, Bank of Thailand ).


P107: 500 Baht obv


sig 81 Korn + Tarisa

Thailand: Series 5 Banknotes

At the height of 2nd World War Thailand faced a critical shortage of banknotes. Since TDLR would not deliver notes as Thailand then was occupied by Japanese forces, the Thai government had to request Japanese government to help print banknotes.

The first Japanese printed banknotes were issued in 1942. A total of 6 denominations (50 Satang, 1, 10, 20, 100 and 1000Baht) were issued during various phases between 1942 and 1945.


P43: 50 Satang obv




P44a: 1 Baht Type 1 obv; 3 serial nrs, lower left in Thai
P44b: 1 Baht Type 2 obv; 3 serial nrs, all in European numerals
P44c: 1 Baht Type 3 obv and rev; 2 serial nrs, lower left deleted

Thailand: Series 4 Banknotes (RTSD)

During the 2nd World War, banknotes could not be delivered by TDLR and 4 denominations (1, 10, 20 and 100Baht) were printed locally by the Royal Thai Survey Department (RTSD).

Series 4 RTSD banknotes look very similar to the TDLR banknotes with the exception that paper and print quality are far inferior. To distinguish between the two different versions, an additional inscription of Royal Thai Survey Department (กรมแผนที่) was printed at the bottom of the notes.



P39b: 1 Baht Type 2 obv and rev

Thailand: Series 4 Banknotes (TDLR)

Series 4 banknotes were first issued in 1938 during the reign of King Rama 8 and have 5 denominations - 1, 5, 10, 20 and 1000Baht. These notes were printed by Thomas de la Rue (TDLR).



P30: 1 Baht Type 1 obv and rev

In 1939, the official country name was changed from Siam (สยาม) to Thailand (ไทย). All banknotes carrying heading Government of Siam (รัฐบาล สยาม) were therefore, changed to Thai Government (รัฐบาล ไทย).


P31a: 1 Baht Type 2, Siam=>Thai, Serial nrs: L-European; R-Thai



P31b: 1 Baht Type 3, Serial nrs: L-European; R-European


During the 2nd World War, banknotes could not be delivered by TDLR and they were printed locally by the Royal Thai Survey Department (RTSD).

Thailand: New Commemorative coins announced

His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej received on January 14, 2009, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Global Leader Award in recognition of his extraordinary commitment to promoting intellectual property and his important contribution to society as a prolific inventor.

To commemorate this award, new coins will be issued during early part of 2010. Three denominations are expected:
1) Gold proof coin of 16,000 Baht
2) Silver proof coin of 800 Baht, and
3) Cupro-nickel 20 Baht

Postage stamps bearing image of this award were released on 5th Dec, 2009 which marked His Majesty's 82nd birthday. The medal design would probably be also used on reverse side of the coins.



Bi-metallic 10 Baht commemorating 100 years of Command and General Staff College, Royal Thai Army (planned for Oct 2009 release) are still not yet issued.

Thailand: Series 3 Banknotes issued 1934

P22 1 Baht Series 3 (Click above to see larger image)


Series 3 banknotes were first issued in 1934 during the reign of King Rama 7 and have 4 denominations - 1, 5, 10 and 20Baht.

Series 3 banknotes have two types:
1. with portrait of King Rama 7, and
2. with portrait of boy King Rama 8

Above picture is of 1 Baht banknote of Series 3 Type 1. Obverse has portrait of King Rama 7 and Royal barge float while reverse has Phra Samut Chedi Temple. Type 1 notes have two obverse varieties - note that the title of Minister of Finance was changed from "พระคลัง" (Phra Khlang) to "การคลัง" (Karn Khlang).

Thailand: Series 2 Banknotes issued 1925

P16a and P16b


Series 2 banknotes were first issued in 1925 (printed during reign of King Rama VI but released during King Rama VII's reign)and have 6 denominations - 1, 5, 10, 20, 100 and 1,000Baht. All denominations have 2 types of legends in Thai - "Promised to pay to the bearer on demand in Siamese currency" and "This note is legal tender in accordance with the law".

Above are the two obverse varieties of the 1 Baht note along with the reverse. Obv has twelve rays made up of microprinted Thai text "Government of Siam". Rev depicts the royal ploughing ceremony which is practised even till today.

Thailand: 10 Baht New Series Circulation coin dated 2009 issued

10 Baht coins minted in year 2009 are now in circulation.

พ.ศ. ๒๕๕๒ = B.E. 2552 = 2009

India: RBI to issue new 500 Rupee note with E inset letter

The Reserve Bank of India announced the release of 500 Rupees banknote with E inset letter (in both numbering panels) in the Mahatma Gandhi Series bearing signature of the present Governor, Dr. D. Subbarao.


Press release of Reserve Bank of India on 17 Sep 2009 .

Thailand: Bi-metallic coins

Thailand has issued lots of bi-metallic commemorative and circulating coins since 1988. A partially complete list can be found in Worldwide Bi-Metallic Collectors Club website.

A more complete list with images will soon be available here absolutely free of charge. Leave your email addresses at the comment box and be the first to receive copies.

Thailand: Banknote Serial numbers

Thai banknotes have serial numbers at top left and bottom right corners. The top left serial number has a prefix consisting of single digit Thai number and a Thai letter of alphabet followed by a 7 digit number.







The bottom right serial number similarly has a prefix consisting of single digit Western numeral and a letter of the English alphabet followed by a 7 digit number using Western numerals.

Prefix system:
In any note, the Thai and Western numeral prefix (indicated by 1 and 4 in images) are always same.

9 Thai and 9 English letters (indicated by 2 and 5 above) are used to get various unique combinations for a batch of notes.

For a new series of banknotes (not signature change), prefixes always start from 0กA. Each combination gives a batch of 1million notes (0กA 0000000 - 0กA 9999999). See combinations below.




Serial numbering of Replacement Notes using prefixes "พ" and "S" will be discussed at a later date.

Thailand: Banknotes issued 100 years back

Thailand's 1st series of banknotes were issued in 1902. These notes, by Thomas de la Rue, were printed only on one side and are known as the Uniface series. There were 7 denominations in all - 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 and 1000 Ticals . Each denomination had many types.

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Exactly 100 years back, Thailand issued 1000 Tical Uniface banknote type 2 into circulation on 23rd May 1909 (R.S. or ร.ศ. 128 ). This type carried signatures of Phra Manatmanit and Prince Kitiyakorn Woralak. Serial numbers started with E1 10001 (จ๑ ๑๐๐๐๑).

Note that these banknotes had 1902 printed on the obverse.

Picture courtesy of Mr. Pipob Charoensri, a fellow collector from Chiangrai, Northern Thailand.

Thailand: New Series 1 Baht Circulation Coin details

1 Baht coins account for 70% of the total 17 billion coins in circulation. To reduce production costs, new series coins made of Nickel-clad steel (rather than Cupro-nickel) were launched in Jul 2009. They are lighter by 0.4g as well.

The obverse has been updated with a more recent potrait of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The reverse has several noticeable differences as highlighted below.




On left is New Series and on right is older series (Y#183).


Thai and Arabic numeral:
Arabic number 1 is significantly taller than the Thai word for Baht "บาท". Thai number 1 (๑) also has a bigger starting head.



Chedi or Stupa:
Number of rings between the square base and the hemisperical dome in the new coins are one less than the older series.



Roof finials:
The Ubosot (ordination hall) roof finials have different lengths and distance separating them.

Thailand: 50 years of Office of National Research Council commemorative coin issued

Commemorative coin for 50 years of Office of National Research Council of Thailand (50 ปี สำนักงาน คณะกรรมการวิจัยแห่งชาติ) will be released on 18th August 2009.

Denomination: 10 Baht
Type: Commemorative
Diameter: 26mm
Weight: 8.5g
Composition: Outer ring - Cupro-Nickel (Cu 75% Ni 25%) Center - Aluminium Bronze (Cu 92% Ni 2% Al 6%)
Edge: Segmented Reeding
Description: Obv-HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) Rev-Planetory model of an atom within Dhammachakra (Wheel of Dhamma).
Date issued: 18 August 2009
KM#: NA
Catalog Nr.: 52001

Laos: New Commemorative coins issued

Bank of Lao PDR have announced two proof coins to commemorate 100th birth anniversary of President Souphanouvong on 13th July. The coins were minted in Russia.





Denomination: 100,000 Kip
Diameter: 27mm
Composition: 0.999 Gold 0.5oz AGW
Date issued: 13 Jul 2009
KM#: NA





Denomination: 100,000 Kip
Diameter: 36.5mm
Composition: 0.925 Silver
Date issued: 13 Jul 2009
KM#: NA

Thailand: A new 20 Baht Circulation Coin?

Economy of Thailand is expected to contract 4.5% from last year. The Treasury Department of Thailand has reported that coin exchanges for banknotes have nearly doubled in recent months. More than 7 million coins were returned to the Treasury Department per month compared with 3-4 million in normal economic times. Coin usage shows more 10 Baht coins in the market. No official statement has been issued whether the new series 10 Baht coin will be minted in 2009 or not.

However, an article which appeared in Bangkok Post on 27th July mentioned that "One official said the Treasury Department had held discussions with the Bank of Thailand about introducing a 20-baht coin to substitute for 20-baht banknotes. Coins typically have a lifespan of 10 years in circulation, significantly longer than more fragile banknotes."


A 20 Baht circulation coin?


WOW. That would be one big and heavy coin to carry in one's wallet as in the past all 20 Baht commemorative coins have been made of Cupro-Nickel having a diameter of 32mm and weighing 15g.


Will keep you all posted with new developments on this interesting development. Full article can be found at the link below...

Thailand: Banknotes issued 60 years back

In 1949, Thailand had issued several banknotes of denomination 1, 5 and 10 Baht. These had signatures of Prince Vivathanachai as Minister of Finance and Leng Srisomwong as Governor, Bank of Thailand. Note that serial numbers had either Red (Type 1) or Black colour (Type 2).


1 Baht, Pick 69a, sig 28 (Banknote Series 9 Type 1)

5 Baht, Pick 70a, sig 28 (Banknote Series 9 Type 1)

5 Baht, Pick 70b, sig 28 (Banknote Series 9 Type 2)

10 Baht, Pick 71b, sig 28 (Banknote Series 9 Type 2)



Pictures courtesy Siambanknote.com where more details can also be found.