100 Rupees 'Dodo' Gold Bullion

The 1988 dodo gold bullion issue was part of a broader Mauritian commemorative program timed loosely around the country's twentieth anniversary of independence. The dodo — Raphus cucullatus — was hunted to extinction by the late seventeenth century, within roughly eighty years of sustained European contact with the island. Dutch sailors are documented killing them for provisions as early as the 1590s.

At 22-karat fineness, this sits at the traditional crown gold standard rather than the .999 fine used by most modern bullion programs — a deliberate archaism that aligns it more closely with sovereign-style coinage than commodity bar equivalents.