The Isle of Man's long-running cat series, launched in 1988, was one of the first programs by any mint to treat domestic cat breeds as a sustained annual coinage theme. The Japanese Bobtail appeared in the 1994 release, a breed whose short, pom-pom tail results from a naturally occurring recessive gene — not selective docking. The Pobjoy Mint produced these for the Manx government, which leaned heavily on topical collector series throughout the 1990s to generate seigniorage revenue well beyond what circulation demand could support.
The Isle of Man's long-running cat series, launched in 1988, was one of the first programs by any mint to treat domestic cat breeds as a sustained annual coinage theme. The Japanese Bobtail appeared in the 1994 release, a breed whose short, pom-pom tail results from a naturally occurring recessive gene — not selective docking. The Pobjoy Mint produced these for the Manx government, which leaned heavily on topical collector series throughout the 1990s to generate seigniorage revenue well beyond what circulation demand could support.