LKY100 coins snapped up on first day of exchange
After visiting three different DBS Bank branches, Mr Andiappan, a 72-year-old coin collector, finally obtained eight $10 commemorative coins for the 100th birth anniversary of Mr Lee Kuan Yew.
The retiree, who goes by one name, tried the DBS Bishan branch and then the DBS Towner Road branch in Boon Keng on the morning of Dec 4 – the first day the coins were available for walk-in exchange at banks – but both had run out of coins available for exchange that day.
However, at the second branch, he was directed to scan a QR code to see which DBS branches still had coins available for exchange.
He then made his way to the DBS Plaza Singapura branch, where he successfully snagged eight commemorative coins at around 1.40pm after waiting for nearly half an hour.
“It’s a very good way of helping the public,” he said of the bank’s online directory indicating the availability of coins.
Singaporeans and permanent residents made more than 700,000 online applications for 3.3 million coins – out of the four million minted – in a May 2023 online application exercise.
Successful applicants had until Dec 3 to collect the gold-coloured LKY100 coins, which feature a portrait of Singapore’s founding prime minister. More than 700,000 coins were then made available for walk-in exchange the next day at 142 participating bank branches.
Several customers that The Straits Times spoke to outside the DBS Ang Mo Kio Central branch said they waited for around two hours before they could complete their exchanges. The branch closed its queue at 11am as the available coins for the day were almost fully exchanged.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore said there is no restriction on the number of coins an individual can make an exchange for, provided the bank branch still has available stock.
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