Issued to mark the 30th anniversary of ASEAN in 1997, this coin arrived at an acutely uncomfortable moment — the Asian financial crisis was already unraveling regional economies when it was struck, beginning with the Thai baht collapse in July of that year. Brunei, insulated by petroleum revenues, weathered the crisis largely intact, which lends a certain irony to a celebratory issue honoring regional economic cooperation minted precisely as that cooperation was being stress-tested.
The one-troy-ounce format at .917 fineness follows Brunei's consistent approach to gold commemoratives of this period.
Issued to mark the 30th anniversary of ASEAN in 1997, this coin arrived at an acutely uncomfortable moment — the Asian financial crisis was already unraveling regional economies when it was struck, beginning with the Thai baht collapse in July of that year. Brunei, insulated by petroleum revenues, weathered the crisis largely intact, which lends a certain irony to a celebratory issue honoring regional economic cooperation minted precisely as that cooperation was being stress-tested.
The one-troy-ounce format at .917 fineness follows Brunei's consistent approach to gold commemoratives of this period.