"First commemorative coin of this territory"... so before the commemorative existed, there was nothing to commemorate... so is it really a commemorative at all? My head is spinning...
I had to look this up...the Chagos islands include Diego Garcia. Since the became a UK territory in 1965, I wonder how many years this commemorates? Oh right--the coin commemorates itself!
And the 1965 inauguration of this territory was marked by what had to be a first for the British Empire: the forcible deportation of every single native resident.
As with "coins" from several other British-owned uninhabited barren rocks, you can thank Pobjoy Mint for this.
As for the theme of the coin, I suppose it's better than "Royal wedding" or "Famous tennis players of the 20th century" or whatever other theme they might have chosen. Even if it is "commemorating" nothing other than its own existence.
Given that they have already been issuing coins "from" South Georgia and the British Antarctic Territory for some years now, "coins" issued in the name of the BIOT were inevitable; it was the last eligible territory left on the list of British territories that had not issued coins. The Akrotiri & Dhekelia military bases on Cyprus officially use euros and the treaty which created the bases prohibits any non-military-related civilian activity, which presumably includes the issuing of coinage.
Anything to suck in the OFEC collectors.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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