10 Dollars Butterfly, copper-nickel

Jamaica's $10 Butterfly coin was part of the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) coinage program, a United Nations initiative that prompted dozens of countries to issue commemorative pieces during the 1970s tied to themes of agriculture and natural resources. Jamaica's participation leaned toward native fauna rather than crops. The specific butterfly depicted belongs to the Papilionidae family, of which Jamaica hosts several endemic species found nowhere else.

The Michael Manley government's embrace of FAO-linked coinage coincided with a period of significant monetary stress on the island, with IMF negotiations and foreign exchange shortages defining much of the late 1970s fiscal picture.