500 Kip Panthera Tigris

Laos has no wild tiger population of its own — the last confirmed sightings of Indochinese tigers within its borders date to the early 2000s, and the subspecies is now functionally extinct in the country. This coin was issued under the convention-driven wildlife series format that the Bank of the Lao PDR has produced largely for the collector export market, with virtually no domestic circulation intended.

At 3.11 g of .999 silver, the piece corresponds to a tenth-ounce bullion fractional format increasingly used by smaller issuing authorities to keep face-value coins accessible to international buyers.