200 000 Kip That Luang Vientiane elephants, 450th Anniversary

That Luang, the great stupa in Vientiane, was originally constructed in the 16th century under King Setthathirath, who also moved the Lao capital from Luang Prabang to Vientiane around 1560 — the founding event this coin commemorates at its 450th anniversary. The stupa was largely destroyed by Siamese and Chinese Haw raids in the 18th and 19th centuries and was rebuilt by French colonial authorities in the 1930s based on earlier drawings, making it an architectural reconstruction as much as a survival.

Laos has issued relatively few gold bullion commemoratives, and this series targeting national monuments represents some of the more collectible modern output from the Bank of the Lao PDR.