Gold Half Gram 2023 Extinct Predators - Pterygotus, Coin from Senegal - detailed information

Senegal uses the West African CFA Franc as its circulation currency, together with seven other states in West Africa which make up the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA; Union Économique et Monétaire Ouest Africaine): Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger and Togo. The currency is issued by the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO; Banque Centrale des États de l'Afrique de l'Ouest), and - unlike for example the Euro - its coins are not marked with an individual country of issue.

Some of the member countries however issue non-circulating collector and commemorative coinage, which Senegal has been doing since 1968. Some of these coins are in the internationally popular half gram (0.5g) of gold mini-coin collector format - such as this one.

This coin is part of the the Extinct Predators Series, and is dedicated to Pterygotus Anglicus. It is a "companion coin" to the silver ounce with a similar design which was issued for Congo.

Pterygotus is a genus of giant predatory eurypterid, a group of extinct aquatic arthropods. Fossils of Pterygotus have been discovered in deposits ranging in age from Middle Silurian to Late Devonian, and fossils have been recovered from four continents; Australia, Europe, North America and South America, suggesting a worldwide distribution.

Pterygotus was among the largest eurypterids. Isolated fossil remains of a large chelicera (frontal appendage) suggests that they reached a body length of 1.75 metres. Pterygotus was surpassed in size by other giant eurypterids, with Acutiramus able to surpass 2 metres, and Jaekelopterus as much as 2.6 metres.

Like its close relative Jaekelopterus, Pterygotus was a large and active predator, noted for its robust and enlarged cheliceral claws that would have allowed it to puncture and grasp prey, and a visual acuity comparable to that of modern predatory arthropods.