Bangladesh Bank is set to launch commemorative gold and silver coins worth Tk 100 and regular currency note of Tk 200 on the occasion of birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on Mar 17.

The central bank’s initiative is to mark the historic moment, said a top official of the bank.

“We have taken this initiative as part of commemoration of the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman,” Sirajul Islam, executive director and spokesman of Bangladesh Bank, told UNB.

He said 1,050 gold coins of Tk 100 and 5,000 silver coins of similar value will be released.

Additionally, Tk 200 currency notes will also come into the market to mark the occasion. But how many of these Tk 200 notes will be released is yet to be decided, he added.

He, however, did not give any detail of the new commemorative notes.

At present, there are regular currency notes of Tk1, Tk2, Tk5, Tk10, Tk20, Tk50, Tk100, Tk500 and Tk1000 are available in the market which were released on different occasions. Their designs were changed several times as well.

Earlier, the Bangladesh Bank also introduced a Tk40 note to commemorate the "40th Victory Anniversary of Bangladesh" in 2011.

The Tk 40 commemorative note featured a portrait of the Father of the Nation and the National Martyrs’ Memorial in Savar in the front, and six armed men on the back.

Bangladesh Bank introduced a Tk 60 note to commemorate "60 years of National Movement" on Feb 15, 2012 while it issued a Tk 25 note to commemorate the 25th anniversary (silver jubilee) of the Security Printing Corporation (Bangladesh) Ltd on Jan 26, 2013.

On Jul 8, 2013, Bangladesh Bank issued a Tk 100 note to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Bangladesh National Museum.