Into the Wild – Lion
Mongolia. 1,000 Togrog 2022. Silver .999. 2 oz. 50 mm. Proof. Mintage: 999. Special Technology: smartminting® (Ultra High Relief) combined with partial color application. Minted by B. H. Mayer’s Kunstprägeanstalt, Munich.
Description of the Coin
One side features a lion to the right in a savannah landscape, in the foreground traces of two lion paws. On the front one, the year 2022 is written; in the background, an umbrella thorn acacia and birds above. The lion is depicted in color and recessed; part of its body continues the savannah landscape with Mount Kilimanjaro in color.
The other side features the coat of arms of the Bank of Mongolia, below in Cyrillic script “1000 Togrog”; in Latin script MONGOLIA 2 oz .999 SILVER.
Background
It is considered the king of the jungle: the lion, to whom CIT sets an impressive monument with this second issue of the Into the Wild series (the first issue featured the brown bear). The regal image of the largest land predator was wonderfully captured on the coin by CIT’s designers.
We meet the lion in its natural habitat, in the African savannah at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro. The ground is covered with parched grass, an isolated umbrella thorn acacia provides shade. As on the first issue of Into the Wild, animal and habitat permeate each other in the depiction. The landscape continues on the recessed lion’s body – a numismatic symbol of how closely the survival of our wildlife is linked to the preservation of its habitat.
What stands out is the technical perfection of the delicate color application in the incuse field. This field is not flat. Its base shows an impressive relief. Minting a relief on the base of such a deep incuse is only made possible thanks to state-of-the-art smartminting technology. Into the Wild is coinage at its highest precision, dedicated to a subject that affects us all: the preservation of the ecological diversity of our fauna in connection with the protection of the last reserves where wild animals can still live in freedom.
Further Information
www.cit.li/coins/into-the-wild-lion
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CoinWeek Podcast #155: Ultra-Modern Coins Take Over
Mobile phone users. Stream this podcast for free by downloading the podomatic app or subscribe to the CoinWeek Podcast on iTunes.
In this episode of the CoinWeek Podcast, we have a lively, interesting, and provocative conversation with Chang Bullock and Orlando Lorenzana of CIT, where we talk about how ultra-modern coins (or postmodern coins, as we call them) have taken over the contemporary coin market and how CIT’s innovations in color and coin minting technology are changing the game for private and sovereign mints.
You cannot walk away from this podcast without learning something about the way minting has changed–and has always been changing throughout the course of monetary history–and we hope it will give you a clearer picture of where we are heading.
