Laos issued a series of lunar new year coins in the late 1990s targeting the collector and investor market almost exclusively — domestic circulation of gold coinage was never the intent in one of Southeast Asia's poorest economies. This piece was struck for the Year of the Rabbit beginning in 1999, with distribution handled primarily through international bullion and numismatic dealers rather than any domestic banking channel.
The .9999 fineness places it among the purer gold issues of the series, minted to compete in a collector market already crowded with Chinese and Australian lunar offerings.
Laos issued a series of lunar new year coins in the late 1990s targeting the collector and investor market almost exclusively — domestic circulation of gold coinage was never the intent in one of Southeast Asia's poorest economies. This piece was struck for the Year of the Rabbit beginning in 1999, with distribution handled primarily through international bullion and numismatic dealers rather than any domestic banking channel.
The .9999 fineness places it among the purer gold issues of the series, minted to compete in a collector market already crowded with Chinese and Australian lunar offerings.