The Forbidden City — formally the Imperial Palace complex in Beijing — served as the Chinese imperial court from the Yongle Emperor's completion of construction in 1420 through the abdication of Puyi in 1912. Solomon Islands has issued numerous large-format gold pieces under licensing arrangements that allow Pacific micro-states to monetize collector demand for world heritage subjects they have no territorial connection to whatsoever. These issues are legal tender in name only; no 100-gram gold coin has ever changed hands at face value in Honiara.
KM# 1021 was struck at a private European facility rather than a national mint, which is standard practice for this class of Solomon Islands issue.
The Forbidden City — formally the Imperial Palace complex in Beijing — served as the Chinese imperial court from the Yongle Emperor's completion of construction in 1420 through the abdication of Puyi in 1912. Solomon Islands has issued numerous large-format gold pieces under licensing arrangements that allow Pacific micro-states to monetize collector demand for world heritage subjects they have no territorial connection to whatsoever. These issues are legal tender in name only; no 100-gram gold coin has ever changed hands at face value in Honiara.
KM# 1021 was struck at a private European facility rather than a national mint, which is standard practice for this class of Solomon Islands issue.