25 shillings Mythical Creatures - Mermaid

Somalia's use of its coinage authority for third-party novelty issues has been commercially active since the 1990s, with European minting houses — primarily in Germany and Austria — producing the bulk of these collector pieces under licensing arrangements. This mermaid issue is one such product, designed for the European novelty coin market rather than for any domestic Somali monetary purpose.

KM#246 was struck in copper-nickel with gold plating, a combination that limits long-term surface stability — the plating on these pieces is thin enough that handling without protection accelerates wear at the high points of the relief.