500 Kip Panthera Tigris

Laos has no wild tiger population. The species was effectively extirpated from the country by the late twentieth century through deforestation and poaching, making this issue something of an ironic conservation statement from a nation that lost the animal before most such programs began. The coin was produced under a broad series of Lao silver issues targeting the collector market, a revenue stream the Bank of the Lao P.D.R. has relied on heavily since the 1990s given the kip's negligible purchasing power abroad.