1 Dollar Big Five - Lion

Sierra Leone has produced "Big Five" wildlife dollars continuously since the late 1990s, almost entirely for the collector export market — these coins have never meaningfully circulated domestically. The series is licensed through various European bullion and numismatic wholesalers, with Bank of Sierra Leone lending its issuing authority to programs it does not otherwise control or distribute.

KM#498 sits in a long succession of nearly identical one-ounce silver issues from the same program. Distinguishing individual years within the series requires close attention to reverse die details, as design elements have been recycled across multiple emissions.