100 000 Kip Black Gibbon

The northern white-cheeked gibbon (Nomascus leucogenys) depicted on this issue was already under severe pressure by 2004, with Laos holding one of the last viable wild populations after habitat destruction and hunting had collapsed numbers across Vietnam and southern China. The Bank of the Lao P.D.R. produced a series of wildlife-themed gold issues during this period partly in coordination with international conservation bodies seeking to leverage numismatic interest in funding habitat protection programs.

Struck at a half-troy-ounce weight, the coin targets the collector bullion market rather than any domestic circulation function.