3000 Kip Anticipation Rabbit

Issued as part of Laos' ongoing lunar new year commemorative program, this piece marks the Year of the Rabbit in the twelve-year cycle — 1999 corresponding to year 2542 in the Buddhist Era calendar observed in the Lao PDR. The Bank of the Lao PDR began producing silver lunar issues in the 1990s primarily for the export collector market, as domestic circulation of silver coinage was entirely negligible in a country where the kip itself had suffered severe devaluation following the 1997 Asian financial crisis, which hit regional currencies hard just two years before this piece was struck.