Mongolia has over 11 extensive regions with plenty of water resources covering a total area of almost 3,700,000 acres. The lakes play a fundamentally important role in supplying the country’s ground water needs. Vast reed beds and extensive aquatic plant communities provide a suitable habitat for a large number of breeding and migratory water birds. There are 18 species of birds included in the Mongolian red data book. One of them is the mute swan (cygnus olor). This swan breeds in sub-arctic and taiga habitats of Eurasia which extend as far as Mongolia in the Far East. On average they lay five eggs, each weighing around twelve ounces. The incubation period is 31 days and the grey cygnets weigh seven to eight ounces when they hatch. At up to thirty pounds, adult whooper swans are among the heaviest of all migratory birds. Even so, they can travel at speeds in excess of fifty-five miles per hour. This Bank of Mongolia issue displays a mute swan in a typically Mongolian lake district. The silver coin also features a very special addition in the form of the flower of the water lily, itself a Swarovski component.
Japanese Sumo Wrestling is one of the oldest martial arts in Japan. Sumo wrestlers were a favorite subject on Japanese woodblock prints. Sumo wrestling is enjoying rising popularity – comparable to basketball in North America or soccer in Europe. Sumo has its roots in the Shinto religion. The matches were dedicated to the gods in prayers for a good harvest. The oldest written records date back to the 8th century. But the early forms of the Sumo tradition are probably more than 1500 years. Sumo prints from the 18th and 19th century prove the popularity of the sport in the past. During the last two decades the art of Sumo wrestling was able to establish itself even outside of Japan. Akebono, an American born in Hawaii, became the first American champion to reach the highest rank. This is the premiere of famous Japanese woodblock prints depicted on a legal tender coin.
Listed in Krause’s Standard Catalog of World Coins as KM-43.
Mongolia – Machu Picchu – Peru – 100 Tugrik (Terper) – 2008 – Prooflike Crown Machu Picchu (1460-1470), Peru – In the 15th century, the Incan Emperor Pachacútec built a city in the clouds on the mountain known as Machu Picchu (“old mountain”). This extraordinary settlement lies halfway up the Andes Plateau, deep in the Amazon jungle and above the Urubamba River. It was probably abandoned by the Incas because of a smallpox outbreak and, after the Spanish defeated the Incan Empire, the city remained ‘lost’ for over three centuries. It was rediscovered by Hiram Bingham in 1911.
Mongolia – Roman Coliseum – Italy – 100 Tugrik (Terper) – 2008 – Prooflike Crown The Roman Coliseum (70 – 82 A.D.) Rome, Italy – This great amphitheater in the center of Rome was built to give honor to successful legionnaires and to celebrate the glory of the Roman Empire. Its design concept stands to this very day, and virtually every modern sports stadium some 2,000 years later bears the irresistible imprint of the Coliseum
China – Three Pandas Drinking – 10 Yuan – 2013 – 1 Ounce .999 Fine Silver Coin – PCGS MS69
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