20 Dollars Year of the Tiger, Type III

Liberia's late-1990s commemorative program was prolific to the point of embarrassment — the government licensed production to foreign minting houses, primarily in South Korea and China, generating dozens of themed issues with little connection to Liberian monetary history. The Chinese zodiac series sits squarely in that category: designed for the Asian collector market rather than domestic circulation, these coins were never intended to pass through Liberian hands.

KM#587 is one of three "Type" variants cataloged for this year, distinguished by subtle design differences traceable to different subcontracted dies.