August 16, 2012 – Again Mongolia dedicates a coin to a fascinating member of its wildlife, this time featuring the adorable long-eared hedgehog. On the reverse the animal is pictured in frontal view filling up the entire area.
Mongolia / 500 Togrog / 1oz silver .999 / 38.61 mm / Mintage: 2,500 pieces.
The upper half is dominated by the hedgehog’s face and prominent ears. In the lower part of the image the forepaws are poking out beside the head, and the hinpaws are extended towards the viewer. The eyes consist of two special SWAROWSKI®ELEMENTS. Along the inferior edge an inscription indicates the name of the series, the year of issue and the binomial name of the small mammal: ‘Wildlife Protection 2012 Hemiechinus Auritus’.
In Mongolia the little hedgehog measuring between 12 and 27 cm lives in the arid habitat of the Gobi desert. The characteristic ears are its key adaptation to cope with these extreme climatic surroundings. Thanks to these ears the long-eared hedgehog is not only keen-eared, but it uses this body part for heat-radiation. Even though it possesses spines like its European relatives, it has another defense mechanism against predators: outrunning them quickly. The nocturnal hedgehog can do so, because of long legs that permit travels up to 9 kilometres per night. During these expeditions it is looking for food in the form of small vertebrates and especially insects that it locates thanks to its keen hearing. By day the hedgehog sleeps in burrows it has often dug by himself. Depending on the region it may hibernate up to several months during the winter.
The series is well known by collectors since the first coin of 2007 was the twice award-winning ‘Wolverine’ or ‘Gulo gulo’ recognised as ‘Best Silver Coin of the Year’ and ‘Coin of the Year’ in 2009. At first glance one is able to tell that this coin has received a worthy successor with the adorable ‘Long-eared hedgehog’ ravishingly designed. Collectors appear to judge it similarly as the coin – like all the series’ previous issues – is already sold out.
Here you will find more information on the Liechtenstein-based company Coin Invest Trust.
And by the way, many other coins designed by Coin Invest Trust have won awards and prizes, too, as you may learn from this article.
How a so sweet Long-eared hedgehog moves, you can see in this video clip.