10 Đồng Orangutan

Vietnam's 1987 wildlife series was issued partly as a foreign exchange earner — collectible coins sold to Western numismatic markets provided hard currency the state badly needed during the doi moi reform period, just as the country was beginning to dismantle its centrally planned economy. Domestic circulation was never the point.

The orangutan, notably, is not native to Vietnam, which points squarely at an export-oriented brief given to the designers rather than any national conservation program.