Does anyone have any information on the limited edition Ben Ryan $7 bill and blue 50ยข coin supposedly issued to commemorate the Fiji Sevens Olympic gold medal?
I have done some searching but haven't found any concrete information.
I found this about a limited edition coloured commemorative coin but no banknote as yet.
https://www.newswire.com.fj/business/banking/rbf-to-issue-commemorative-coloured-coin-for-fiji-7s-gold-medal-win/
This next article has some details about when it will be released. It states that in the first quarter of 2017 it is due to come into circulation. I guess we are about halfway through the first quarter so keep your eyes open about now.
http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?ref=archive&id=368283
Thanks for those links.
I did have a look at the Reserve Bank site could find anything. Just went and had another look and waded through their press releases to find RESERVE BANK OF FIJI PLANS ISSUING A RUGBY SEVENS COLOURED COMMEMORATIVE CIRCULATION COIN IN 2017 (http://www.rbf.gov.fj/getattachment/0d974a30-32e8-4922-a68b-d44c33bf05f7/Press-Release-No-20-RBF-to-Issue-a-Rugby-7s-Coloured-Coin-in-2017.pdf?lang=en-US)
I will be in Fiji next month and sure to visit Suva sometime so I will personally enquire at their swish, new headquarters.
I think the $7 bill story might be an "alternative fact". It appeared in quite a few newspapers but, from the context, the same story just picked up and repeated.
The claim was believable because they sometimes do things their own way in Fiji...Pizzas for police, court orders man (http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=384271). And Ben Ryan is a hero in Fiji -after the sevens win he was made a Companion of the Order of Fiji (their highest award), granted a 3 acre plot of land and given a traditional chiefly name (that is an unprecedented honour, I don't think even Prince Charles received that accolade when he superintended Fiji Independence Day way back in 1970). Having a chiefly name is a very big deal in Fiji.
So where the heck is the colour on this new circulating coin? I don't remember seeing it on the pictures I saw.
When it was originally announced the coins were to be coloured but that was scrapped "due to production difficulties". I suspect either the mint they used did not have the capability or they were just running out of time. They were not available until months after the originally announced release date.
They could have used the R.A.M. but that might have cost more.
From what the Reserve Bank Governor and the Prime Minister said at the official release function it is purely a money making exercise. I don't know if there was an original intention to release them into circulation but that is definitely not going to happen now.
Quote from: 'JeffH' pid='108919' dateline='1495920222'I don't know if there was an original intention to release them into circulation but that is definitely not going to happen now.
Are you talking about the coloured ones or the uncoloured ones? I'm very sure that the uncoloured ones were (or are about to be) released into circulation, but that the coloured ones were never issued. Am I correct in this?
I am not really sure exactly what is happening. The snippets of information I have come across are not too clear.
Might just have to wait and see what happens.
From the Reserve bank press releases the coloured coins are not happening and uncoloured ones are to be released into circulation in March 2017 (that hasn't happened). Information with the order forms for the coins and notes said the coins will only be available in capsules and there will be no loose coins.
Quote from: 'JeffH' pid='108934' dateline='1495998100'Information with the order forms for the coins and notes said the coins will only be available in capsules and there will be no loose coins.
I assume that means for collectors, rather than the general public. Perhaps you should ask your mate in Fiji whether he has received any in change. :winkextra:
Precisely what I intend to do.
Quote from: 'JeffH' pid='108934' dateline='1495998100'Information with the order forms for the coins and notes said the coins will only be available in capsules and there will be no loose coins.
Are the fijian authorities really believing they are going to sell 1.000.000 coins in capsules with a population of just under 1.000.000?
Very optimistic attitude.
There are people of many faiths and creeds in Fiji but the one true religion that binds the population is RUGBY.
They will sell a lot of them. We still aren't sure how many, if any, will be released to circulation. Perhaps any unsold will be sent to circulation -they will be lucky to get out of the doors of the banks as the staff will grab them.
What they should have done was offered one, free, to every Fiji citizen. What a popular gesture that would have been.
I have been advised by my friend that he won't be in Suva until 29th or 30th of this month so a few weeks yet before coins get sent.
Also he has now seen some of these coins in change and is keeping them.
Jeff