The Isle of Man's early crown-sized issues were among the first to break from the convention of purely heraldic or royal commemorative subjects, and the 1975 Manx Cat piece was genuinely novel at the time — a native breed on a circulating-weight silver coin was almost unheard of in British dependencies. Pobjoy Mint had only recently taken over production of Manx coinage from the Royal Mint, and the contract brought with it unusual creative latitude that the Derbyshire operation exploited aggressively throughout the mid-1970s.
The KM#31a designation distinguishes the sterling silver striking from the cupro-nickel business strike issued alongside it.
The Isle of Man's early crown-sized issues were among the first to break from the convention of purely heraldic or royal commemorative subjects, and the 1975 Manx Cat piece was genuinely novel at the time — a native breed on a circulating-weight silver coin was almost unheard of in British dependencies. Pobjoy Mint had only recently taken over production of Manx coinage from the Royal Mint, and the contract brought with it unusual creative latitude that the Derbyshire operation exploited aggressively throughout the mid-1970s.
The KM#31a designation distinguishes the sterling silver striking from the cupro-nickel business strike issued alongside it.