Otumfuo Commemorative Gold Coins launch Sunday

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has given authorisation to Gold Coast Refinery Limited to mint commemorative gold coins to celebrate the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, for his outstanding contribution to the peace, stability and development of the country over the past 22 years.
This is the first time non-circulating commemorative coins meant to celebrate and honour people, places, events and institutions are being issued in the country.

The gold coins will be issued at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi on Sunday to coincide with the celebration of the last Akwasidae of the year, with proceeds from the auction of the coins being used to establish a multi-purpose Cultural Resource Centre in Kumasi to promote activities related to traditional and customary conflict resolution in the country.

The Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC) is collaborating with an Accra-based Ghanaian business solutions provider, the E ON 3 Group, to launch the gold coins.

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Described by the organisers as treasured collectors’ articles, the coins are of 99.99 per cent assay at 24 carat fine gold, with a diameter of 37mm and weight of 31.104 grammes each.

“The face of the gold coins bears the image of the Asantehene, with the Adinkra symbols ‘Bi Nka Bi’ and ‘Mpatapo’, which symbolise peace, harmony and reconciliation.

“The reverse bears an image of the Golden Stool (Sika Dwa),” a statement from the organisers said.

Access Bank is the official banking partner of the launch of the gold coins, while Coronation Insurance Company Limited is the official insurance company, with other companies, including the KGL Group, as co-sponsors.

Traditional leadership

“The essence of this memorable launch is to acknowledge Otumfuo for his tremendous role in helping to expand the frontiers of traditional leadership beyond Ghana and the African continent, a development that has elevated the chieftaincy institution to a much higher pedestal and ushered it into modernity,” the E ON 3 Group said in a correspondence to the PMMC on the collaboration.

The Managing Director of the PMMC, Nana Akwasi Awuah, said the collaboration with the E ON 3 Group gave meaning to the PMMC’s position as the national assayer, explaining that once the coins were assayed by the PMMC, an assay certificate would be issued to assist purchasers who might want to carry the coins outside the country to do so without any hitches.

Background

Since he acceded the Golden Stool in 1999, Otumfuo Osei Tutu has pursued conflict prevention and resolution with extraordinary finesse.

Apart from the numerous chieftaincy, land and family disputes that he had resolved in Asanteman, he has also extended his exploits into other areas, working with the other members of the Committee of Eminent Chiefs to douse the flame of conflict in the Dagbon Traditional Area in the Northern Region.

Again, in the run-up to the 2012 presidential election, the Otumfuo, responding to a request from the National Peace Council, committed the presidential candidates to sign a peace accord, the famous ‘Kumasi Declaration’.

On September 13, 2019, the Asantehene, on the invitation of the United Nations, delivered the keynote address at the High-Level Forum of the 20th Anniversary of the UN General Assembly Resolution 53/243 on the Declaration and Programme of Action on Culture for Peace, during which he spoke on how to use traditional methods and culture to engender peace in Asanteman and Ghana.