1996 GOLD BHUTAN 10,000 NGULTRUM NGC PROOF 69 ULTRA CAMEO SNOW LEOPARD ONLY 500 MINTED

KINGDOM OF BHUTAN

REIGN OF JIGME SINGYE WANGCHUCK, 4th DRAGON KING OF BHUTAN (1972-2006)

ENDANGERED WILDLIFE SERIES - THE SNOW LEOPARD

10,000 GOLD NGULTRUM COIN CERTIFIED BY NGC PROOF 69 ULTRA CAMEO

ONLY 500 MINTED!

OBV: NATIONAL EMBLEM WITHIN CIRCLE WITH FLANKING DATES.

REV: SNARLING SNOW LEOPARD 3/4 FACING RIGHT.

THE SNOW LEOPARD (PANTHERA UNCIA) IS NATIVE TO THE MOUNTAIN RANGES OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH ASIA. IT IS AN ENDANGERED SPECIES WITH LESS THAN 10,000 ADULT INDIVIDUALS KNOWN IN THE WILD, AND IS LISTED A VULNERABLE ON THE RED LIST OF THREATENED SPECIES.

IT WAS ESTIMATED THAT IN BHUTAN THERE WERE BETWEEN ONE HUNDRED TO TWO HUNDRED SNOW LEOPARDS ROAMING THEIR HABITATS. IN 2016, BHUTAN'S FIRST NATIONWIDE SNOW LEOPARD SURVEY WAS CONDUCTED, THE FIRST CENSUS OF THE ANIMAL BY ANY RANGE COUNTRY. THE SURVEY ASCERTAINED THAT THERE WERE 96 OF THE SPECIES LIVING IN THE KINGDOM OF BHUTAN. THE COUNTRY HOPES THAT KNOWING THE NUMBER OF THE POPULATION CAN HELP THEM IN THEIR CONSERVATION EFFORTS. 

SNOW LEOPARDS IN BHUTAN ROAM THE HIGH MOUNTAIN RANGES FROM AN ELEVATION OF 3,400 METERS TO AROUND 5,200 METERS.

THE CIRCULAR NATIONAL EMBLEM OF BHUTAN (DEPICTED ON THE REVERSE OF THIS COIN) CONTAINS MUCH BUDDHIST SYMBOLISM. THE TRADITIONAL DOUBLE-DIAMOND THUNDERBOLT SYMBOL (THE DORJE) IS AT THE CENTER, AND IT REPRESENTS THE HARMONIC BALANCE BETWEEN SPIRITUAL AND SECULAR AUTHORITY.

CONTAINS 31.104 GRAMS OF 9999 PURE GOLD

34 mm IN DIAMETER

ONLY 500 MINTED!