500 Dollars Year of the Tiger

Singapore's Lunar New Year gold series, launched in 1974, was among the first state-sponsored bullion programs in Southeast Asia to treat the twelve-year zodiac cycle as a complete collecting proposition rather than an ad hoc commemorative exercise. The 1986 Tiger falls in the second full rotation of the series, by which point secondary market premiums over melt had already established themselves firmly — early issues from the first cycle were already trading at multiples of face.

The .916 fineness follows the 22-karat standard long associated with British sovereign coinage, a deliberate choice reflecting Singapore's Commonwealth minting heritage.