This is the third coin in the Stop Ebola! series, and so far I only know of these three. The coin is from Sierra Leone and is a whopping 1,250,000 Leones, so now I can say I am a millionaire! And that is a significant sum of money, approximately US $166 at today's exchange rate. So one of the more expensive face value coins out there. And, at a mintage of just 100, one of the most rare of bat coins. But like the others, it is a Fantasy Issue and not legal tender.
And what is not apparent in a photo of just the coin is the sheer size of this thing. It comes in at a stunning 70mm (2.75 inches) diameter and is a brick at 105.3 grams (3.71 ounces). I can not find any information on what metal it is made of, but it is a proof-like mintage (or possibly a true proof) with a mirror surface on the flat parts and frosted on the raised parts. A real beauty.
And what is not apparent in a photo of just the coin is the sheer size of this thing. It comes in at a stunning 70mm (2.75 inches) diameter and is a brick at 105.3 grams (3.71 ounces). I can not find any information on what metal it is made of, but it is a proof-like mintage (or possibly a true proof) with a mirror surface on the flat parts and frosted on the raised parts. A real beauty.
2015 Sierra Leone 1,250,000 Leones Stop Ebola coin with a flying fox bat on the obverse
Please refer to the previous two posts about this series for details about the designs and details, but this coin is in particular need of some discussion of the bat itself. At first glance, it almost does not even look like a bat, what with being right-side up and the wings being hard to differentiate from the branches. The face is very blunt for an African flying fox and that foot right by the chest is just odd. Okay, so who came up with this design?
Answer: I don't know, but I do know where the design came from. This design is done from a photograph by Anton Croos of a bat moving through the branches (instead of just hanging). I don't have permission to reproduce it here, but here is a link to a blog page about bats that uses the photo with attribution. You will notice it is the exact bat and pose used here.
http://whyfiles.org/2014/bats-on-the-wing/
And did you go there? Nice page with lots of very good bat info. And in the caption for the photo by Mr. Croos one should notice that the picture is of a bat taken in Sri Lanka. Last time I looked at a map Sri Lanka was off the southern coast of India and no where near Africa. So... Did they use this bat photo with permission for the coin image? I don't know, but if I were the photographer I think I would not give permission to use an Asian bat on a coin representing Africa. And surely given the high quality of this photo he had a better bat picture around than this one for a coin image. And so there you have it, the origin of the image, but no answer as to how that image ended up on this coin.
Answer: I don't know, but I do know where the design came from. This design is done from a photograph by Anton Croos of a bat moving through the branches (instead of just hanging). I don't have permission to reproduce it here, but here is a link to a blog page about bats that uses the photo with attribution. You will notice it is the exact bat and pose used here.
http://whyfiles.org/2014/bats-on-the-wing/
And did you go there? Nice page with lots of very good bat info. And in the caption for the photo by Mr. Croos one should notice that the picture is of a bat taken in Sri Lanka. Last time I looked at a map Sri Lanka was off the southern coast of India and no where near Africa. So... Did they use this bat photo with permission for the coin image? I don't know, but if I were the photographer I think I would not give permission to use an Asian bat on a coin representing Africa. And surely given the high quality of this photo he had a better bat picture around than this one for a coin image. And so there you have it, the origin of the image, but no answer as to how that image ended up on this coin.
Other than being huge and now up to 100 Afros, the reverse of this coin is very similar to the reverse of the 200,000 Francs coin from Guinea. And being so big the coin offered quite the challenge to photograph, as it is the size of a hand mirror and just as reflective. Getting a shot of the coin without a reflection of the camera was not easy. And the trade off was that the photos of the coin are not nearly as pretty as the coin itself is in-hand. It really is a beautiful, giant, coin.
So that is it for the Stop Ebola! series. From what I know I can say that these are rare coins (good from a collector's standpoint) and that they seem to have a bit of a mysterious origin and minting (bad from a collector's standpoint as origin and authenticity are key in collecting). Really cool additions to a bat coin collection, but not really sure how they fit in anywhere else.
And, since I have made it clear that this final coin is large, I will end with a photo of it next to a US one cent coin for comparison. Which would you rather have in your pocket? (trick question, as the big coin is worth a whole lot more than a cent)
So that is it for the Stop Ebola! series. From what I know I can say that these are rare coins (good from a collector's standpoint) and that they seem to have a bit of a mysterious origin and minting (bad from a collector's standpoint as origin and authenticity are key in collecting). Really cool additions to a bat coin collection, but not really sure how they fit in anywhere else.
And, since I have made it clear that this final coin is large, I will end with a photo of it next to a US one cent coin for comparison. Which would you rather have in your pocket? (trick question, as the big coin is worth a whole lot more than a cent)
Sierra Leone 1,250,000 Leone coin next to a US one cent coin.
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