Catalog
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| Issuer | Isle of Man Government |
|---|---|
| Year | 1997 |
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| Composition | Silver (.925) |
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| Reverse description | A detailed naturalistic depiction of the Iriomote cat (Mayailurus iriomotensis) in a stalking posture, facing left, with spotted and streaked fur finely engraved against a mirror proof field. Sparse grass tufts appear beneath the animal's feet, and a sprig of foliage is rendered in the upper background. The binomial scientific name MAYAILURUS IRIOMOTENSIS is inscribed in two lines above the central device, flanked by the arc legend HISTORY OF THE CAT along the upper periphery. Below the feline, the inscription DISCOVERED IN 1964 appears in the field, with the denomination 1 CROWN in bold raised lettering at the base. |
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| Mintage | 1997 PM - Proof - 10,000 |
| Additional information |
The Iriomote cat — Prionailurus iriomotensis, reclassified from Mayailurus after mitochondrial DNA studies confirmed its closer relationship to the leopard cat — was unknown to science until 1967, when a Japanese mammalogist named Yukio Togawa brought specimens to formal attention. The entire wild population was estimated at fewer than 100 individuals at the time of this coin's issue, confined entirely to Iriomote Island in Okinawa Prefecture.
The Isle of Man Treasury issued a substantial wildlife conservation series through the 1990s, frequently selecting species with no geographic connection to the island whatsoever.