The currency of Mongolia since 1925 has been the tögrög, which currently circulates mostly as banknotes due to the low value of earlier coins and the reluctance of the government to issue large denomination coins; however, the government has authorised many non-circulating legal tender (NCLT) coins to be issued for collector's purposes.
Collector coins are dedicated to historical or general popular culture themes and are often not related to the country itself. Many of them are in sizes based on the troy ounce, but some are "metric" - such as twenty-five grams (25g) of silver - such as this coin.
This coin is part of CIT's Lunar Year Collection dedicated to the Chinese Zodiac, and was issued to mark the 2016 Year of the Monkey.
The Mint says about it:
According to the ancient Chinese zodiac, human character is interpreted not by the month, but rather by the lunar year of birth. This zodiac is represented by one of twelve animals. Legend has it, that one day Buddha summoned all animals, but only twelve answered his call: a rat appeared first, followed by a buffalo, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and finally a pig. People who are born in the year of the monkey are perceived to be astute, intelligent and flexible which enables them to solve problems with ease. |
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The obverse of the coin depicts the logo of Mongolbank (the Bank of Mongolia), which is formed as a round coin on a lotus bouquet associated with purity, delicacy and stability. Three fire flames and a blooming flower are located inside the coin. The figure symbolises eternal development and youth and the three flames represent the main national treasures. At the nominal value location the Soyombo symbol is positioned, representative of the Mongol ethnicity. The name of the Central Bank of Mongolia is written below the figure: МонголБанк in Cyrillic, which is the official script of the Mongolian language.
On the the two sides of the logo, vertically, the inscription Mongol Uls in the traditional Mongolian script.
Below the logo, on two lines the face value: 500 TӨГРӨГ (five hundred Tögrög, alternatively spelled Tugrik).
Around below, the name of the issuing country and the metal content: MONGOLIA 25 gr 999 SILVER (twenty-five grams of 99.9% silver). |
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