1000 Kip Beijing to London

Issued to mark the handover of the Olympic Games from Beijing to London, this coin belongs to a sprawling category of numismatic products manufactured almost entirely for the collector export market — Laos having no meaningful connection to either host city. The Bank of the Lao PDR produced numerous such issues throughout the 2000s, licensing themes with broad international commercial appeal while the coins themselves never approached domestic circulation.

The 28.28g, 38.61mm .925 silver specification is the standard flan used by the few contract mints — primarily in Europe — that produced the bulk of Pacific and Southeast Asian commemorative output during this period.