Seychelles’ rusty rupees to be replaced

The Central Bank of Seychelles is in the process of launching new 10 rupee coins after those currently in circulation proved prone to rusting.

“The 10 rupee coins were observed to show signs of accelerated tarnishing and rusting, issues that the test results have attributed to the effect of our humid climate on the metal composition of the coin,” the central bank explains in a statement.  

A decision to change the composition was taken following an agreement between the central bank and its coin supplier, the UK’s Royal Mint, following the results of testing of the coins.

“We carried out accelerated wear tests and the central bank also had the coins tested at an independent laboratory in South Africa,” Simon Lake, director of sales at the Royal Mint, tells Central Banking.

The Royal Mint has been minting the Central Bank of the Seychelles coins since 1982.

“Unfortunately, the central bank found that a number of coins had been exposed to salt water due to members of the public storing the coins in buckets – which in some parts of the island is common practice,” Lake says.

The central bank was alerted to such a problem after members of the public posted images of the eroded coins on a number of websites, after which the central bank approached the Royal Mint and asked for a solution.

“We did this but stressed that any material will deteriorate if exposed to salt over a period of time,” Lake says.

Unlike the old coins, which were made of nickel-plated and brass-plated steel, the new coins will now have a nickel-brass core and will be plated with nickel.

The central bank stresses there will be “no visible difference” in the appearance between the 2016 and 2018 coins, and they will have the “same design and colour”.

The new coins, when launched later this year, will circulate with the existing 10 rupees, which will be gradually taken out of circulation as members of the public deposit them at commercial banks, the central bank says.