Dominica's independence from Britain came on 3 November 1978, making this one of the few gold commemorative issues tied to an independence event that occurred within the same calendar year as striking — the turnaround was tight. The island had been a British Associated State since 1967, and full sovereignty came later than most of its Caribbean neighbors.
The .900 fine standard used here follows a British Commonwealth convention that persisted well past metrication, rather than the .999 fine that most sovereign mints had already adopted for commemorative gold by the late 1970s.
Dominica's independence from Britain came on 3 November 1978, making this one of the few gold commemorative issues tied to an independence event that occurred within the same calendar year as striking — the turnaround was tight. The island had been a British Associated State since 1967, and full sovereignty came later than most of its Caribbean neighbors.
The .900 fine standard used here follows a British Commonwealth convention that persisted well past metrication, rather than the .999 fine that most sovereign mints had already adopted for commemorative gold by the late 1970s.