Catalog
500 Manat Houbara Bustards
| Issuer | Central Bank of Turkmenistan |
|---|---|
| Year | 1999 |
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| Shape | Round |
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| Obverse description | Draped bust of President Saparmurat Niyazov facing left, rendered in high relief with fine detail to the hair and collar, occupying the central field. The frosted effigy contrasts sharply against the mirror-polished proof field. A circular legend in Latin script arcs around the upper and lower periphery, identifying the subject in the Turkmen language. |
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| Reverse description | Two Houbara bustards (Chlamydotis undulata) depicted in high relief at center, one standing prominently in the foreground and a second with wings raised behind it, conveying naturalistic motion and detail. Additional birds in flight appear in the left field, with stylized desert vegetation occupying the lower right. The scientific name 'Chlamydotis undulata Jacquin' arcs along the upper periphery in italic lettering, while the denomination '500 MANAT' is inscribed to the right, the date '1999' to the lower left, and the Turkmen vernacular name 'TOGDARY' along the lower border. |
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| Additional information |
Turkmenistan's late-1990s commemorative program was partly designed to attract hard currency from foreign collectors — the domestic economy had little use for silver proof coins priced well above the average monthly wage. The houbara bustard held specific national significance under Niyazov's government, appearing in state imagery as a symbol of the Karakum desert ecosystem at a time when Turkmenistan was aggressively projecting a distinct post-Soviet national identity.
The species itself is critically threatened across Central Asia, hunted extensively by Gulf state falconers whose chartered flights into the region were a poorly concealed diplomatic irritant throughout the 1990s.