500 Tenge Lying Argali

The argali (Ovis ammon) is the world's largest wild sheep, with Kazakh populations concentrated in the Altai and Tian Shan ranges. By 2013, hunting pressure and habitat encroachment had pushed the species onto Kazakhstan's protected list, and this coin was issued partly in coordination with national conservation policy — a series of wildlife coins the National Bank began producing in the 1990s that doubled as soft diplomatic currency during international environmental negotiations.

The gilding applied selectively over .925 silver is a bimetallic effect achieved without a true clad structure, a technique Kazakh issues of this period deployed more aggressively than most sovereign mints of comparable output.