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20 Dollars Endangered Wildlife

Issuer Kiribati
Year 1992
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Currency Dollar (1979-date)
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Obverse script Latin
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Reverse description Two Great Frigatebirds (Fregata minor) rendered in finely detailed high relief occupy the central field, depicted in dynamic flight above a stylized coastal seascape representing Christmas Island (Kiritimati). One bird is shown closer to the ocean surface in the foreground while the second soars higher in the background. The legend ENDANGERED WILDLIFE arcs along the upper rim, the place name KIRITIMATI appears in the mid-field to the right, and the denomination 20 DOLLARS is inscribed along the lower rim.
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Additional information

Kiribati has no functioning mint of its own and contracts production abroad; this issue was almost certainly struck by the Royal Australian Mint or a similar Commonwealth facility under license. The Endangered Wildlife series of the early 1990s was a revenue mechanism — collector coinage represented one of the few hard-currency income streams available to Pacific island states with negligible export economies and no tourism infrastructure to speak of.

The series coincided with CITES pressure on Pacific nations to formalize wildlife protections, giving the coins a diplomatic utility beyond simple seigniorage.