2016 - Niue 1 NZD Asian Elephant - Proof

ASIAN ELEPHANT

SOS TO THE WORLD – ENDANGERED ANIMAL SPECIES

• perfect gift for all lovers of nature
• minted in .999 sterling silver!
• elegant decoration with digital printing and SWAROVSKI
• specially designed presentation case featuring the Asian elephant

The Mint of Poland is pleased to present a consecutive collector coin from the series “SOS to the World – Endangered Animal Species”. This unique souvenir token featuring an Asian elephant – one of the biggest mammals in the world – reminds us about the fragile beauty of living things being on the verge of extinction.
The coin enchants with its silver gleams and precise finishing. Thanks to high-end digital printing, the images of Asian elephants depicted on the reverse look extremely lifelike. Decorative surface in the background alludes to the evergreen forests of Asia – the natural habitat of these giant herbivores. Gleaming with a beautiful smoky color, a SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS crystal shows the regional distribution of the species on the map of the world.

The coin is accompanied by a specially designed presentation case, pleasantly decorated with the images of impressive Asian elephants. Asian elephants weight up to 11,000 pounds and grow up to 10 feet tall. Their muddy-grey coloration camouflages them in a shady habitat. Dexterous trunks of these giant animals are extremely versatile: with the use of their ‘additional limb’ consisting of more than 40,000 muscles they can tear down trees, or… pick up a blade of grass!

Asian elephants display a variety of behaviors and emotions, like grief, altruism, compassion, memory and language. They communicate via rumbles and bellows, but can also produce long-range infrasounds that travel up to several miles. Since 1986 these beautiful animals have been included in the IUCN Red Data Book as an endangered animal species.