2023 - Slowakei 5 € Braunbär - St.

Flora and fauna in Slovakia – the brown bear

€5 base metal collector coin

The brown bear is Slovakia’s largest predator. It has a stocky body, small eyes and ears, a short tail, pronounced claws, and thick fur that is 8 to 12 cm long and comes in a wide range of shades from light brown to almost black. The adult male can weigh up to 350 kg. Brown bears in Slovakia are concentrated in the central, northern and north-eastern mountain areas. The brown bear is an omnivore that prefers to live in mixed and coniferous forests. Its diet is 90% vegetable matter with the remaining 10% consisting of carrion, smaller animals, insects and, occasionally, sick or injured hooved game. Bears hibernate in dens from around early November to April. Female bears and their cubs are the first to enter the dens and the last to emerge from them. Male bears seek out females only during the mating season, usually from the end of April to the beginning of August. The cubs are born during January and February in the safety of the winter den. At birth they are blind, have short fur and weigh less than 500 g. Bears in the wild can live to be more than 30 years old.

Obverse:
The obverse of this euro collector coin is dominated by the head of a brown bear in profile. Centrally positioned above the head is the Slovak coat of arms. The denomination and currency ‘5 EURO’ appear along the lower left edge. Inscribed along the upper edge are the name of the issuing country and the year of issuance: ‘SLOVENSKO 2023’. At the right edge is the mint mark of the Kremnica Mint (Mincovňa Kremnica), consisting of the letters ‘MK’ placed between two dies.

Reverse:
On the reverse is a depiction of a female bear and her two cubs hunting fish. Inscribed along the upper edge are the Slovak name for the brown bear ‘MEDVEĎ HNEDÝ’ and the animal’s scientific name ‘URSUS ARCTOS’. At the lower right edge are the stylised initials ‘TL’, referring to the coin’s designer Tomáš Lamač. (source, photo: NBS)