Today we're going to look at a coin series featuring wildlife from the Himalayan mountains. The Endangered Wildlife series of the Kingdom of Bhutan.
Coin still in the claws of Elly
The Ghost of the Mountains
The first entry of this series was the 1991 Snow Leopard. Made of 925 silver the coin is a lot more scratch resistant than your usual fine silver coin. The coin has a beautiful mirror finish on both sides, which turns into a dust magnet if you get it outside of its capsule.
The snow leopard is one of the rarest animals in the Bhutanese kingdom. As of 2016, only 96 animals were counted. The animal is called the ghost of the mountains by the Bhutanese people. It's very hard to track down and barely visible in the snowy mountains.
This elusiveness makes it hard to pinpoint the exact population, but certain is that there are just a couple dozen animals left.
Obverse
Due to this scarcity, the Kingdom of Bhutan decided to honor the snow leopard as the first entry of this series. The obverse features the elusive ghost of the mountains next to a rock. The coin has also a denomination of 300 ngultrums, making it legal tender.
Reverse
The reverse shows the Bhutanese coat of arms. Centered is a Dorje, symbolizing the balance between secular and religious power. Two dragons above a lotus flower flank the Dorje. The coin was minted by the Royal Mint in Wales and reached a mintage of 10,000 coins. It weighs 31.47 grams at a size of 38 mm (~1,5 inches).
Closeup of the snow leopard and the coat of arms
Over the next few days, I'll show you the next entries of the Endangered Wildlife series. What do you think about this series, did you already know about it, or is it the first time you've heard about it?
Bhutan ~ Himalayan Wildlife
If you've missed one of the other entries, follow one of the links below.