The cactus on coins

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Turks and Caicos, 5 crowns, 1975.  Turk's head cactus. Melocactus intortus.

See: Turk's Head Cactus.

The cactus got its name from its cylindrical red flowering top, which to some early botanist must have resembled a Turkish fez. The cactus is now the national plant, appearing on both the national seal and flag. Amusingly enough, I read once that when the original draft of the seal was sent to the UK for approval, a British artist mistook the cactus for an igloo, added an entrance way and painted it white. So the igloo briefly became a national symbol of the Turks and Caicos! The UK is supposed to produce the world's best geographers, but somebody overlooked the fact that 21.5°N latitude is a little warm for igloos.

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Turkey, 10,000 lira, 1986.  Cacti.  World Cup, Mexico.

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Mexico, 20 centavos, 1964.

One of the most beautiful designs in modern numismatics:

the Pyramid of the Sun, framed by cacti: specifically the prickly pear cactus.

The reverse shows Mexico's national emblem: an eagle perched on a cactus.

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In 1990 the Turks and Caicos Islands issued a crown coin to celebrate the 90th birthday of the Queen Mother. The reverse depicted two cacti.

See: Queen Mother's 90th birthday commemoratives: flower series of 1990.

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USA, Arizona quarter, 2008.

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Argentina, 1 peso, 2010.

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Cannot contribute any cactuses now, but there is one funny thing about the US quarter. As you know, each of these pieces honors a state, and the AZ state quarter combines the Grand Canyon, in Arizona, and those cactuses, elsewhere in the state.

See here: "The reverse of the Arizona quarter features an image of the Grand Canyon with a Saguaro cactus in the foreground. A banner reading 'Grand Canyon State' separates the two images to signify that the Saguaro cactus does not grow in the Grand Canyon."

[Figleaf]

Arizona rang a bell. This is a prickly 5 mil (half cent) tax token.

Peter