Bill 587.

Summary.

The bill proposes declaring July 5 of each year Panamanian Numismatics Day. The date would commemorate the enactment of Law 84 of July 5, 1904, which created the national monetary system. The annual observance would connect the history of Panama’s currency with public knowledge of coins minted in the country. The cited law provides the historical basis for the commemorative date.

The observance would seek to promote the study, preservation and dissemination of Panama’s monetary history. It would also encourage fairs, exhibitions and academic conferences on the development of Panama’s currency and numismatics more broadly. A further purpose would be to strengthen national identity through knowledge of the symbols and people depicted on minted coins. These purposes cover the study and preservation of monetary history as well as its presentation through public activities and academic events.

The bill assigns the Ministry of Culture (Ministerio de Cultura) responsibility for organizing outreach activities and commemorative events concerning Panamanian numismatics. It provides for the ministry to coordinate this work with the National Bank of Panama (Banco Nacional de Panamá) and the Ministry of Education (Ministerio de Educación). The activities would relate to the declared observance and to the bill’s stated purposes of studying, preserving and sharing knowledge about Panama’s currency. The coordination provision identifies the public bodies involved in organizing the observance.

In the exercise of their respective powers, those public bodies would seek technical collaboration from the Numismatic Association of Panama (Asociación Numismática de Panamá, ASONUMP A) to design and carry out commemorative activities. The bill describes the association as a nonprofit organization devoted to studying and preserving monetary heritage. Its contemplated contribution would focus on curating monetary exhibitions in museums and educational centers and on historically verifying official publications about the national currency. It would also address the promotion of ethical collecting and the protection of pieces of national numismatic value. The bill frames this contribution as technical collaboration sought by the public bodies for the design and implementation of the observance.

The bill provides that the law would take effect upon promulgation. It cites Law 84 of July 5, 1904, as the historical basis for the date without proposing amendments to that law. The proposal concerns the Ministry of Culture, the National Bank of Panama and the Ministry of Education, and could interest museums, educational centers, monetary history researchers, numismatic organizations and coin collectors.