Gold Ounce 2022 War Elephant, Coin from Gibraltar - detailed information

Gibraltar is a small British Overseas Territory located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, bordered to the north by Spain. Its currency is the Gibraltar Pound, which is locally interchangeable with the Pound Sterling, to which it is pegged at par; however, the Gibraltar Pound is legal tender only in Gibraltar and not in the United Kingdom.

The territory has also authorised some mints to issue commemorative and bullion coins under its jurisdiction. These latter are usually in standard bullion sizes, such as one ounce of gold - designated as 1 oz Au, where Au is abbreviated from Aurum, the Latin word for gold.

This coin is part of a Scottsdale Mint series of Gibraltar bullion coins, and depicts a War Elephant.

War elephants played a critical role in several key battles in antiquity, especially in Ancient India. While seeing limited and periodic use in ancient China, they became a permanent fixture in armies of historical kingdoms in Southeast Asia. During classical antiquity they were also used in ancient Persia and in the Mediterranean world within armies of Macedon, Hellenistic Greek states, the Roman Republic and later Empire, and Carthage in North Africa. In some regions they maintained a firm presence on the battlefield throughout the Middle Ages. However, their use declined with the spread of firearms and other gunpowder weaponry in early modern warfare. After this, war elephants became restricted to non-combat engineering and labour roles, as well as being used for minor ceremonial uses. They continued to be used in combat, however, in some parts of the world, such as in Burma, Thailand, and Vietnam, well into the 19th century.