Treasury waiting for approval to mint coins

The Treasury Department is awaiting royal approval to mint His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn’s coronation commemorative coins and medals. The coins are composed of gold, silver and cupronickel, while the medals consist of platinum, silver and copper and are attached to a ribbon band, said Amnuay Preemonwong, director-general of the Treasury Department. Details including price, production limit and ceiling of reservations per person will be made later this month, with a reservation period available before the coronation date set for May 4-6. Interested people can make reservations at branches of Krungthai Bank, Counter Service and the Treasury Department’s coin exchange centres nationwide, Mr Amnuay said. In another development, he said the department has launched a mobile coin unit consisting of two trucks to offer better access coin exchange service. The mobile coin unit project is aimed at encouraging people who keep coins idly in piggy banks to return the money to add to the volume of coins in circulation and reduce the department’s expenses minting new coins. The trucks are set to travel in 14 provinces that do not have the Treasury Department’s coin exchange centres. The mobile unit’s service will initially be available in Pathum Thani and Ayutthaya during the first two months of this year before extending to 12 other provinces. The 12 provinces are Nonthaburi, Samut Sakhon, Samut Prakan, Samut Songkhram, Nakhon Pathom, Ang Thong, Sing Buri, Suphan Buri, Chon Buri, Chachoengsao, Nakhon Nayok and Saraburi. There is demand for 3 billion coins in circulation each year, but only 1 billion are in circulation and the department must mint an additional 2 billion, said Mr Amnuay. The mobile trucks are expected to help the Treasury Department save 86 million baht a year minting new coins, he said. Each of the department’s mobile trucks has the capacity to exchange 30 million coins per year.