10 000 Kip Year of the Dog

Laos issued this small gold piece as part of a long-running lunar new year series produced primarily for export and collector markets rather than domestic circulation. The 2006 Year of the Dog corresponds to the Lao calendar year 2549–2550, and the issue was almost certainly struck under contract at a foreign mint — the Bank of the Lao P.D.R. has historically lacked domestic facilities capable of producing fine gold coinage at this specification.