MAS to issue new coin set featuring Singapore's native orchids

AsiaOne 25 May 16;

SINGAPORE - A series of $1 coins featuring Singapore's native orchids will be issued next month, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced in a statement on Wednesday (May 25).

Named The Splendour of Native Orchids series, the special set of silver proof coins will feature orchids from the Native Orchids of Singapore coin series that was issued from 2011 to 2015.

Each set will comprise 10 pieces, and a total of 4,000 sets will be issued.

Each orchid will be featured in full colour on each coin, and will be set against a sandblasted background.

The name of the orchid will be minted on the coins' shiny upper circumference, while the obverse bears the Singapore Coat of Arms with the year 2016.

Each coin weighs 8.56 grams and has a diameter of 24.66 millimeters.

MAS said that the series celebrates the beauty of orchids that once thrived in Singapore, some of which are still found in the island's forests today.

The 10 orchids that will be featured are:

- Cymbidium finlaysonianum

- Grammatophyllum speciosum

- Arundina graminifolia

- Bulbophyllum macranthum

- Bulbophyllum flabellum-veneris

- Dendrobium crumenatum

- Phalaenopsis cornu-cervi

- Coelogyne rochussenii

- Dendrobium leonis

- Dendrobium secundum


The coin set will be issued on Jun 24, and orders must reach the Singapore Mint by Jun 12. MAS added that orders will be subjected to balloting if the coin sets are oversubscribed.