June 2, 2016 – “Back to the roots” would be a fitting motto for the latest issue in the popular and several-time award winning Mongolian Nature series that Coin Invest Trust designs for Mongolia.
Mongolia / 500 Togrog / .925 silver / 1/2oz / 38.61mm / Design: Coin Invest Trust / Mintage: 2,500.
Keeping with the style of the series, the obverse features the cut-out silhouette of an Eagle-Owl perched on a branch that grows out of a crescent moon. On the left, the coat of arms of the issuing state, complete with the nominal value. The reverse features the mirror-inverted silhouette. Engraved along the left rim is the title of the series, MONGOLIAN NATURE 2016.
Owls hunt pine martens too. Photograph: Martin Mecnarowski / http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
After the wolf, the horse and the saker falcon, the series now presents the Eagle-Owl as another typical Mongolian animal. With up to 65 cm of body length, the Eagle-Owl (Bubo bubo) is one of the world’s largest species of owl. The owl is easily recognizable by its ear tufts, its plumage in shades of brown and its orange-yellow eyes. Making almost no sound as it flies, the Eagle-Owl hunts small rodents, like rats and mice, but also pigeons and other birds at night. Sat on branches or in caves, the animals spend their days mostly asleep.
Eagle Owls find nesting sites in rock crevices, sometimes also in eyries that have been vacated by other birds. There, they hatch up to 5 eggs and take care of the offspring for a period of 5 months. For the young birds, foxes and martens are particularly dangerous, while the adult birds have virtually no natural enemies. For centuries humans persecuted Eagle-Owls, which were regarded as hunting rival. Today, however, its population remains stable thanks to comprehensive protective measures.
For Mongolia, Coin Invest Trust continues its popular Mongolian Nature series, whose first “Crying Wolf” issue was a multiple award winner and received the Krause Award in the category Most Innovative Coin 2015 as well as the Coin of the Year Award of the Russian Coin Constellation. The latest issue takes up this design by rendering the Eagle-Owl and the crescent moon in the characteristic cut-out technique. The coin was minted by B. H. Mayer’s Kunstprägeanstalt, Munich.
For more information on this coin go to the Coin Invest Trust website.
In this BBC video clip you can see how an owl protects her chicken.