July 14, 2016 – The latest issue in the popular and several time award-winning Wildlife Protection Series, created by Coin Invest Trust for Mongolia, is decorated with the Saker Falcon. In the series’ familiar style, the bird’s eyes are original SWAROVSKI® ELEMENTS inlays. The coin’s brilliance, wealth of detail, and relief height are astounding thanks to smartminting© technology.
Mongolia / 500 Togrog / Silver .999 / 1 Ounce / 38,61mm / Mintage: 2500.
The obverse shows the coat of arms of the issuing state, below, the nominal value. Weight and fine content are engraved along the bottom rim and, in the silver edition, the name of the issuing nation.
Continuing the style of the series, the silver edition depicts the head of a Saker Falcon, whose eyes are made of black SWAROVSKI® ELEMENTS inlays, in high relief.
The golden edition portrays head and shoulders of a Saker Falcon on a polished surface, facing right. Inscribed along the upper rim are the name of the series WILDLIFE PROTECTION– SAKER FALCON and the year of issue.
An impressive aerial hunter: the Saker Falcon. Photograph: Bohus Cicel. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en.
As the country’s national bird, the Saker Falcon (Falco cherrug) enjoys great esteem in Mongolia. Its agility and deftness render him one of the most successful predators of the steppes and semideserts. It stoops for prey, often small mammals and birds, from heights up to 150 m. If the impact alone does not kill them, the falcon will, with a well-directed bite.
Two faulkners. Illustration from De arte venandi cum avibus, written by Frederick II between 1241 and 1248.
Falconry has a long history, going back to the Sarmatians and the Ostrogoths. Frederick II, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 1220 to 1250, must have been the most popular falcon lover of all. He called his illustrated book, in which he put down his profound knowledge of the animals and the demanding art of hunting with them, “On the Art of Hunting with Birds” (De arte venandi cum avibus). The book, which challenged some of Aristotle’s previously made observations, would remain the standard work on falconry until the Modern Period.
The Saker Falcon remains a prestigious status object and a popular hunting companion until today. Amateur falconers often cover their demand by illegally capturing the protected animal, which puts the Saker Falcon on the Red List of Threatened Species. For Mongolia, Coin Invest Trust dedicates its latest issue in the popular and several time award-winning Wildlife Protection series to this bird. Thanks to the innovative smartminting© technology, the silver coin’s relief around the beak reaches a heretofore unseen height. Likewise, the depiction of the plumage is as rich in detail as never before.
The coins were minted by B. H. Mayer’s Kunstprägeanstalt GmbH. Collectors can purchase the issues through specialty dealers.
Please find more information on these coins here and here.
This is the website of Coin Invest Trust.
And here you may browse through Frederick II’s famous book on falconry.