Cambodia: circulation coins of 1994

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Cambodia, 1994 set.

In 1994 the National Bank of Cambodia issued a new design series of coins.

It consisted of three steel coins and one bimetallic coin.

The bimetal coin has a steel centre within a brass ring.


The denominations were: 50, 100, 200 and 500 riels.

Above you see the obverse of the coins.

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The reverse of the coins.

50 riels.    The Independence Monument in Phnom Penh.

100 riels.  The Angkor Wat.

200 riels.  Two ceremonial bowls.

500 riels.  The lesser arms of the Kingdom of Cambodia.

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The Independence Monument in Phnom Penh.

It was built in 1958 to commemorate Cambodia's independence from France in 1953.

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Angkor Wat.

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The royal arms of Cambodia.

The 500 riels features the lesser version of the arms.

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My thanks to our forum member stef.

He messaged me about the design on the 200 riels coins.


He thinks the design represents the constitution in the form of a book.

It is placed on a phan - a kind of ceremonial tray.

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A book doesn't explain the handle on the right in the arms. I think that is a sword, used here as a symbol of worldly power supported by the phan, a symbol of religious power. However, on the 200 riels, on the opposite side, the phan indeed carries a book against a rising sun.

Peter

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Two similar designs.

Left: Cambodia, 200 riels, 1994.   Book of the constitution on two chalices.

Right: Laos, 50 cents, 1952.       Book of the constitution on a pedestal.