Catalog
250 Dollars Bahamas Conch Shell
| Issuer | The Bahamas |
|---|---|
| Year | 2019 |
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| Currency | Dollar (1966-date) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A highly detailed, naturalistically rendered queen conch shell (Aliger gigas) is depicted in high relief against a deeply mirrored proof field, resting on a wet sandy shoreline with shallow water ripples visible beneath it. The shell is shown in a three-quarter view, its characteristic spired apex and flared outer lip rendered with exceptional sculptural precision. The denomination legend 250 DOLLARS appears in two lines in the lower field beneath the central motif. |
| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
The conch shell occupies an unusual position in Bahamian economic history — the queen conch (*Strombus gigas*) was so central to subsistence and trade across the archipelago that overharvesting led to a complete commercial fishing moratorium in 1993, a ban still in effect. Commemorating it in gold is, in a quiet way, an acknowledgment of a species the islands nearly lost.