Which animals would you like to see on coins?

[Galapagos]

Some exotic animals tend to appear often on circulation coins: lions, for instance (see previous topic).

Congratulations must go to those countries that have depicted more unusual species, e.g. Zambia with its 1 ngwee coin (1968, 1970s) depicting an aardvark, or Algeria portraying a fennec fox on a quarter dinar (1992 onwards), or else Zimbabwe honouring a pangolin on their 1997 $2 coin, in the days when it still had coins.

Looking to other continents, I'm quite fond of Brazil's simplistic depiction of a tamandua (giant anteater) on a 10 cruzeiros reais in 1993 and the maned wolf on the 100 cruzeiros reais in 1994.

Elsewhere, Tuvalu's 1976 octopus 50c coin is another unusual case.

But what of those beasts still NOT honoured on regular circulation coins? For Africa, I would like to see the hyena (brown, striped or spotted) or the related aardwolf on a coin. As a beast, the hyena is in a class of its own. It looks like a canine but is not - an example of convergent evolution, if ever there was one. It's been done on a Botswanan gold coin of 1976, but I'm talking strictly circulation coins here.

I'd also like to see the serval (a member of the cat family) on an African circulation design. Its unusual ears (for a feline) make it stand out.

For South America, how about the marvellous kinkajou? Again, it's been done on a gold coin (a Belizean coin of the 1970s or early 1980s, I believe).

I've been looking forward to the Uruguayan circulation coins slated for 2009, but I've yet to hear anything of them:-

50c - Southern Lapwing [Vanellus chilensis] (tero)
$1 - armadillo (mulita)
$2 - capybara (carpincho)
$5 - rhea (ñandú)
$10 - cougar or mountain lion (puma)

Anybody heard anything?

For Asia, the linsang and related genet are beautiful enough to be well worth a circulation coin (though species also occur in Africa, I believe), as is the tapir. At one point the tapir was going to appear on the Malaysian circulation set of 1967, but that was vetoed. (I might tell the story of that on this site if I can find the documents).

As for Australasia, well, Australia has enough exotic beasts that it has portrayed on gold and silver coins but has yet to show on a *regular* circulation coin: koala, emu, Tasmanian devil, etc.

Finally, Europe. I will only speak for the UK. I had hoped that we would adopt some animals on our new designs, but alas, they turned out to be dreary old heraldic designs. I'd been dreaming of seeing our beautiful badger on our regular 50p, but I'll have to dream on.

[Figleaf]

You have good taste in animals, but people at large work with cliché images of animals. Since coins are propaganda, the cliché wins.

Why do we see lions and eagles on coins? Because they are symbolic for courage, not for themselves and least of all because they are animals of prey. Look again and these animals are anything but courageous, preying on smaller, young and sick animals. Reality doesn't count, image counts.

Why are there so few hyena's on coins? Because they are symbolic for cowardice. They leave the killing to others but are very useful for cleaning up. Again, image wins from reality.

So why do we find some more unusual animals on coins? Because collectors want them or to advertise the country as a tourist destination. The images are aimed at foreigners, not locals. The world as a whole is not environmentalist, not even particularly conscious of its environment. Environmentalism, rightly or not, is a luxury product being exported from rich countries to poor ones. I am trying not to make any value judgements here.

Peter

[Harald]

(snip)
The images are aimed at foreigners, not locals.

Peter

I guess very few people really care what is depicted on the money, anywhere in the world. They usually don't even know it.
Try it out and ask a few people (not the strange ones like numismatists). With banknotes it is even worse, although there
is an awful lot to discover. People know the color and the numeral, that's it.

cheers
--
Harald

[Galapagos]

Here's an attractive gold coin of Belize depicting a kinkajou.

No, I don't own one (the coin, that is, though some people keep the animal as a pet).

I'd like to see it honoured on a circulation coin, though.

I must admit I'd never heard of a kinkajou before I saw the coin.



The second image shows another beauty you won't find on a circulation coin.

This collector coin is from Western Samoa, 1994.

I've seen these beautiful bats in both London Zoo and Jersey Zoo.

[bruce61813]

  here is one you won't see,well maybe Scotland will adopt it.... I could not resist, I was going to put it in the Lundy Token thread.  Wonderful Fox Bat, I remember them from Guam many year ago, along with the coconut crabs.

bruce

[Splock]

As for Australasia, well, Australia has enough exotic beasts that it has portrayed on gold and silver coins but has yet to show on a *regular* circulation coin: koala bear, Tasmanian devil, etc.

Surely our regular circulating coinage has all the exotic beasts you could want. You don't get more extotic than a monotreme and we have two! (Echidna on the 5c and Platypus on the 20c). Add to that the Lyrebird on the 10c, Emu and Kangaroo (both on the coat of arms and the Mob of Roos dollar) and you've almost got the whole set. The Koala has been on a circulating 50c, the 2004 Student Design winner with the Wombat (my personal favourite) and a Cockatoo for company.



From www.cruzis-coins.com

[Prosit]

Speaking of Ausieland.  I have a coin with the frilled-neck lizard design.  I love that design.
Dale

[<k>]

Now, which creatures would you like to see honoured on a coin of YOUR country? And would it be a standard circulating coin, a one-off (one year only) circulating coin, or an NCLT issue? And which of your animals would you NEVER want to see on a coin?

Personally, I would like to see some of our British animals honoured on our UK coins. I would have an adder on the 2p coin, a swan on the 10p coin, and a badger on the 50p coin. I so wanted to see a badger on the 50p coin that I created a design myself.

[FosseWay]

When the Mint first announced that they were planning to change the reverse designs of British coins, I thought British animals would be a fine theme for the series. Much better than what we actually got.... But anyway, my suggestion:

1p: the wren, for the same reason as it was used on the farthing: it's Britain's smallest bird for the lowest-value coin
2p: I'll go with Illustrated's suggestion of a snake (adder or grass) here -- the coin's size means you could be very creative with the snake's coils
5p: a harvest mouse -- small to echo the coin, and one of the few rodents people don't have pest problem with
10p: a kingfisher -- arguably Britain's most exotic bird
20p: I was going to suggest a sheep, but the Falklands got there first, so a cow -- Britons don't generally realise this, but we are unusual in having huge quantities of fresh milk virtually on tap because our climate favours dairy farming. Herds of dairy cattle in fields are also a quintessentially British thing.
50p: an osprey/sea eagle -- the largest and most impressive of Britain's birds, and the size of the coin would do it justice
£1: echo the previous practice of issuing nation-specific £1 coins, but use animals associated with each part of the UK
£2: a red deer stag, as the largest land animal in Britain

[FosseWay]

As for your red deer stag, wouldn't that end up looking too reminiscent of the defunct Irish punt coin design?

Funnily enough, I did have the Irish coins in mind. I don't think repeating the stag would be a problem, though. Apart from the cow, which I admit is a bit of an odd one out but justifiable on the grounds I mentioned, I've gone for definitively wild animals. The original Irish series went either for domestic animals (pig and piglets, hen and chicks, horse, wolfhound) or wild animals used for sport or food (hare, salmon, woodcock). This fitted de Valera's vision of a self-sufficient, Catholic, Gaelic, rural economy for the country. My approach was more to harness the 21st-century interest in the natural world, and hence to go for wild animals for their own sake.

[Prosit]

One of the things that disappoint me is the number of nice designs used on NCLT and the comparatively fewer animals on circulating coins. I would like to see more pigs on circulating coins...not counting Presidents 

Dale   

[Coinsforever]

I would like to see more Lions & Tigers on Indian coins like this one



Getting rude I never want politicians on coins .

Cheers

[<k>]

I used to correspond with Denis G Rainey, who wrote/writes the "Coin Critters" articles in World Coin News. In 1993 he sent me a letter stating the animals he'd choose if the US switched to wildlife-themed designs:

1c.   The bullfrog. Amphibians are neglected on coins, he said.
5c.   Monarch butterfly. Some think it should be the USA's national insect.
10c. Desert tortoise. 
25c. Black-footed ferret.  The USA's rarest mammal.
50c. Male wood duck. Mr Rainey thinks it is the USA's most beautiful bird, and it is his own favourite bird.
$1.  Pronghorn. Neither an antelope nor a goat, it belongs to its own family.

He included a design for a dollar coin just in case!

One of the things that disappoint me is the number of nice designs used on NCLT and the comparatively fewer animals on circulating coins.

Yes, circulation coins seem to stick to the same few animals. In Africa lions, rhinos, hippos and zebras are over-represented. The serval is a beautiful "big cat"; hyenas have their own beauty too - but you never see these on circulation coins. A few original choices are what is needed, instead of the same old beasts.

I would like to see more pigs on circulating coins.

Move to Tonga! We do have a pig thread:

Pigs on coins

[FosseWay]

For Dale:

[Prosit]

Its a beauty 

Dale