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500 Tenge Balkhash Tiger
| Issuer | National Bank of Kazakhstan |
|---|---|
| Year | 2009 |
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| Orientation | Medal alignment ↑↑ |
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| Reverse description | A finely engraved portrait of a Balkhash tiger (Panthera tigris virgata) is depicted in three-quarter view, the animal emerging from a naturalistic habitat of reeds and tall grasses rendered in intricate detail across the field. The tiger's muscular form and facial features are realised with careful attention to texture and shading. The bilingual legend БАЛҚАШ ЖОЛБАРЫСЫ in Kazakh Cyrillic arcs along the upper left, and BALKHASH TIGER in Latin script arcs along the upper right. The date 2009 is inscribed in the lower exergue. |
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| Edge | Reeded |
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| Additional information |
Kazakhstan's "Red Book" wildlife series, launched by the National Bank in the mid-2000s, drew directly from the country's official list of endangered species — the Caspian tiger, however, had already been functionally extinct for decades by the time this coin was struck. The last confirmed sightings in Kazakhstan date to the 1970s, near the Ili River delta feeding into Balkhash. The coin's subject, then, is essentially an elegy.
The series was produced at the Kazakhstan Mint in Ust-Kamenogorsk, which had only gained full independent minting capability in the 1990s following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.