Silver Ounce 2020 Montserrat Oriole, Coin from Montserrat - detailed information

Montserrat is a British overseas territory in the Caribbean which uses the Eastern Caribbean Dollar (EC$) as its currency; it is the common currency of six independent states and two British Overseas Territories. The EC$ has both common and national issues. All common circulating coins are issued under the authority of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank and have no issuing country specified on them. Separately, each member country can also strike coins bearing its national symbols; these coins are legal tender in all members states, and are usually commemorative or bullion not intended for general circulation. Most of the member states are also members of the (British) Commonwealth of Nations and share the same monarch with the United Kingdom, so that the effigy of the monarch is displayed on the coins and banknotes of the currency.

Montserrat has authorised some foreign mints to strike coins under its issuing authority for collector's purposes. Some of these are in popular bullion formats, such as one troy ounce (1 oz) of silver.

This coin is part of the third edition of the Eastern Caribbean 8 (EC8) series of premium bullion coins by the Scottsdale Mint, which has a new annual design for each country of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). The 2020 design for Montserrat features its national bird, the Oriole.

The Montserrat oriole (Icterus oberi) is a medium-sized black-and-yellow icterid (the same family as many blackbirds, meadowlarks, cowbirds, grackles, and others, including the New World orioles). It inhabits the Centre Hills and South Soufriere Hills Important Bird Areas on the island of Montserrat in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, and is the national bird of this British territory. Much of its habitat was destroyed by deforestation, Hurricane Hugo and the volcanic activity between 1995 and 1997.