I am not prepared to offer a complete history of Ebola or how it relates to bats, but it is a dread disease and the occasional outbreaks may have a link to bats.  I leave this to the reader to research if interested, as it is a fascinating subject but only here related in that a coin with the words "Stop Ebola" on it has a bat as the main feature.

​So far I have located three of these Stop Ebola coins, and they will be the next three posts here.  They are all Fantasy Issues, as not legal tender, but are certainly important (and in some cases rare) bat coins.  They are issued using the name of a country, a denomination in that country's coinage, and a back that says "African Monetary Union" along with a denomination in "Afros."  And there is another thing I do not wish to discuss here in great detail, the AMU.  Like the Europeans and the Euro, the Africans have discussed various monetary unions for a single currency.  This is seemingly part of this effort, but does not seem to be well-connected to any particular effort.  I find these coins to be oddities that so far defy reason as to exactly who minted them and why.

​First up is the 2015 Liberia 250 Dollar coin.  It is a reasonably large, bi-metal coin with the inset part (likely copper/nickel alloy) just larger than a US quarter.  The outer ring is thin comparted to most bi-metal coins, leaving a lot of room in the center for design elements.

The text in the outer rim of the obverse is the country at the top and the denomination at the bottom.  The denomination has a five-petal flower/star on each side, and to balance the design they included four symbols.  These symbols are tiny versions of the large symbol above the words Stop Ebola.  This design is based on the international Biohazard design of three touching rings open to the outside and a full circle in the middle.  But to customize the design, they added a miniature outline of Africa in the middle and the word "virus."  Of interest, is the words Stop Ebola have an exclamation point after them, a rare use of punctuation on a coin.

​The bat itself is a flying fox, well rendered and quite accurate.  The coin is well-struck and has great detail, although not quite on the level of a proof coin.

The back of the coin has a lot going on.  Around the rim are the words "African Monetary Union" in a bunch of languages.  In the center is the denomination 1 Afro, a unit that has never really been accepted that I know of.  And for another point of interest, it is repeated in braille below the English lettering.

​The center focus of the reverse is a nice map of Africa showing a lot of the political boundaries, surrounded by a somewhat normal array of rays and stars, although here in great abundance.  Near the island of Madagascar there is what appears to be a mint mark, but I am unfamiliar with this design so it could be the designer's logo, a mint mark, or something else.

​And finally, a bit of humor, intended or not.  In the upper right are the four symbols for some of the world's currency units.  In order they are the Euro, the Afro (or Afriq), the US Dollar, the Japanese Yen/Chinese Yuan.  Which looks sorta like EASY, and the obvious translation as "EASY MONEY"

Among the coins with bats on them, there stands alone one coin where the designers just went all out to produce a masterpiece.  Here is the 2016 Palau silver proof coin The Bat from their "Animals in Glass" series. 

​It is a very large coin, coming in at a bit under 2 ounces (50g), is square (or diamond-shaped when viewed correctly), and is 0.999 fine silver.

Okay, so this is complicated.  What is going on here?  First, the coin is a silver proof so the flat field in the lower two thirds is mirror finish.  The raised surfaces are frosted.  In coin terminology this is called cameo, and this coin is certified as deep cameo.  The coin is slabbed in a giant plastic holder, so photos are difficult but it does show that the coin graded as PR69DCAM, meaning it is a proof, grade 69 out of 70 so almost a perfect coin, and is deep cameo.

​And there are bats.  And those bats take various forms.  First, the main bat because it is, well, the main bat.  The bat represented is the Townsend's big-eared bat (Corynorhinus townsendii), which is an awesome bat but is not found anywhere near Palau (no idea why they chose this bat).  The parts of the bat come in three design formats, with the body and tail being colorized, the left wing being frosted, and the right wing being...glass.  Yes, glass.  More on that in a minute, as it is hard to see that wing properly in the above photo.

​The main bat, and all the bats actually, are very true to life both in design and location.  The anatomy of the bat is quite correct, other than the left wing of the main bat having too much gap/membrane between the first and second fingers.  And some are flying in reasonable poses and some are roosting on apparent cave roof which is a natural habitat for this bat.  Also, they tend to roost in clusters so even that aspect is correct.

​And the number of design elements used on the front of the coin is impressive!  The main bat uses the three elements, but then there is so much more.  Two of the flying bats are colorized black and raised over the field while one is colorized black and raised over the frosted area.  Five flying bats are frosted and raised over the field and three are mirror and incuse to the frosted area.  Eight bats are raised and frosted in silhouette roosting on the ceiling and at the top of the coin is a fully-rendered frosted roosting bat with fantastic (and accurate) detail.

The other side of the coin has fewer design elements, but it does a really amazing job depicting the bats.  The main bat on this side is deeply detailed and has one wing made of...glass (yes, I will get to that).  Everything about this bat is exactly correct, right down to the long tragus visible in the ear to the small lumps this species has on the tip of its nose.  Beautiful.

​There are also two raised flying bats showing detail, and nine fully-rendered bats roosting as a ceiling colony.  To the one side is the date, at the top is the denomination inset into the cave rock, and on the right a national symbol.  The symbol says Republic of Palau with a man in an outrigger canoe below it, and then above the words "Rainbow's End" is a depiction of Neptune with a treasure chest and a mermaid (ratings alert, she is topless!).

​So, what about that glass?  Glad you asked.  I don't know how they did it, but inset into a hole in the coin is a piece of colored glass the exact shape of the bat's wing.  And to make this work, the bat on the front and the bat on the back had to have one wing in exactly the same position.  So look again and you will see that this is exactly what they did.  And here is a photo showing the coin with light coming through the glass.

Here the coin is backlit, and really shows off what that glass piece looks like with light coming through it.  Absolutely perfect rendition of the bat's wing, down to the waviness of the wing membranes to the veins visible through it and even the light orange coloring by the elbow.  Truly a work of accurate art and an amazing accomplishment.

​Finally, a photo of the coin in the slab, and the very nice box it originally came in along with the certificate of authenticity.

This coin is from the Republic of South Ossestia, a de facto independent republic located in the Georgia Republic.  But even after two successful votes for independence, it still remains unrecognized as an independent country.  So, while they can issue coinage, it remains officially a "fantasy issue" as it is not legal tender.

​For 2013 they issued a series of coins in different denominations with wildlife on them, and the 5 Kopek coin has the bat.  Of interest, the 1 Kopek coin has the pygmy shrew on it, and there are very few coins with shrews on them as not very high up the list of charismatic wildlife.

​The coin itself is about the size and weight of a US nickel (21.8mm diameter 5.5g weight) and is composed of a copper-coated steel.

In general, this is a pretty good representation of an insectivorous bat, the only kind found in that part of the world.  And while the detail is a bit lacking, the broad structures are okay although the bat's right leg and foot (seen on the left) are odd-looking at that angle.  And while the coin isn't a super sharp issue, my only real problem with it is that the face of the bat is the highest raised point on the coin and even on an uncirculated coin like this one the details get damaged by merely being put in anything short of a plastic capsule. 

But close inspection of the face show nice ears, nose, and an accurate open mouth of an echolocating bat.  Fact of the day is that many insectivorous bats echolocate through the mouth, and have a wide gap between the front upper teeth to allow for the sound to travel through unimpeded.

The reverse of the coin has the national coat of arms, the date, and in several formats it says, "Republic of South Ossetia, Republic of South Ossetia, and South Ossetia.

The 1997 Hong Kong five dollar coin (about 65 cents US) does not just have one bat on it, it has five.  And these are not supposed to be representative of bats as wildlife, but they have a symbolic meaning.  As a symbol known as wu fu the five bat design represents: long life, wealth, health, love of virtue and peaceful death.  This symbol is widely used in parts of Chinese culture and can be found on quite a number of objects.  Unlike in so many places where bats are associated with the dark and scary, in Chinese culture they represent happiness and joy.  And your Chinese lesson for the day is that the word for bat "fu" is the same word "fu" for good fortune.

​So here is a relatively modern coin just over an inch in diameter (27mm) and a beefy 0.4 ozs (13.4g).  it weighs so much because it is very thick, with the Chinese symbols for "Hong Kong Five Dollars" written around the edge.  It is composed of a standard Copper Nickel alloy and was minted with a strong, shiny finish.  There is also a proof issue for this coin.

The reverse of the of the coin has the Bauhinia flower on it, or more specifically the Bauhinia x blakeana flower on it.  You can Google that if you want to sort out the history and taxonomy of the national symbol of Hong Kong.

In Austin, Texas they built a bridge.  Originally called the Congress Avenue Bridge, it was renamed in 2006 the Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge in honor of the former Texas governor.  And this is a fine bridge by any standard, especially if you like bats. 

​It would seem that the size of the expansion cracks in the substructure of the bridge are just right for roosting Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis).  And so the bats moved in, and in some big numbers.  Bat Conservation International, based in Austin, estimates that there are between 750,000 and 1.5 million bats under the bridge in the summers (the bats migrate south for the winter).

​And in a major success story for the conservation of bats, the bridge has become a tourist site and attracts hundreds of visitors every evening to watch the bats fly out.  So instead of trying to get rid of the bats, Austin has all but adopted them.  Even their hockey team is called the Austin Ice Bats.

​So while this is arguably a "bat coin" it is a real coin with a bat on it and a neat story behind the location so I am putting it up there.  This is a 199X Lincoln cent that was put into a souvenir machine that flattens out the coin and leaves a raised logo for the site.  These are common at many tourist stops, but this is a cool one as it is for a bridge full of bats.

And there's not much to see on the back, but the hint of the coin's original design.

There are a number of bat coins made of shiny silver, but few are made of gold.  Here is one.  This coin is the 2010 Samoa 1 dollar coin and is 0.999 pure gold.  And it is tiny, just weighing in at 0.5g (about 25% of the weight of the smallest bat) and a whopping 11mm (7/16 inch) in diameter.  But it is a beautiful little coin and a proof issue with a mintage of 10,000.

​The coin has the same bat, the Samoan Flying Fox (Pteropus samoensis) on it as the 10 dollar silver coin, although it a wings-open flying pose instead of roosting, and there are no crystal eyes for this one.  And given the size, the detail on the bat is remarkable.  Facial features and tiny wrinkles in the wing membranes can be made out so clearly the engraving process was done with some high degree of skill.

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​However, all that said, there is one serious problem with this coin.  The bat on the coin is NOT a Samoan flying fox.  It is not even a flying fox at all.  The first dead giveaway even looking at the small coin from a distance is that between the legs is a full membrane (word of the day is Uropatagium, the membrane between the legs that often encompasses the tail if it has one, which the Samoan flying fox does not).  The Samoan flying fox has a V-shaped uropatagium with the notch of the V where the tail would be.  The bat on the coin has a full uropatagium with full tail extending to the edge of it.  Second is the face, which shows a blunt nose (not the fox-like visage that gives the bat its name) and a triangular-shaped nose leaf.  Clearly this is not even the wrong flying fox but some other type of bat altogether.  I have given this a bit of thought, but am unsure at this point which bat they used as a model for the coin, but so far I haven't nailed it down.  I will update the post if I ever get back to figuring that out, but for now I just don't know.

The reverse of the coin is similar to the $10 coin, with the national arms, country and denomination listed.

The Samoan Islands essentially consist of the US territory American Samoa and the country of Samoa.  And it is the country of Samoa (officially The Independent State of Samoa) that has issued a couple of very nice bat coins.  And here is one of the best.

​This is the 2010 Samoa 10 dollar coin.  It is made of 0.925 pure silver and weighs in at a hefty 0.80 ounces (25g).  It is a legal tender coin, KM#173 in the catalog of world coins, and exactly no one would ever spend one.  Only 2,500 of these were minted and all are proof quality coins, so on the rare end of the scale and oh so good-looking.  The eyes, for reasons unknown to me, are inlaid red Swarovski crystals, which give the coin a very unique attribute and fortunately do not end up making the bat look evil.  In real life, the bat has brown eyes.

This coin features a great bat, the Samoan Flying Fox (Pteropus samoensis).  And just for full disclosure, it is known as the pe'a vao in the local language.  This bat is a big guy, coming in with a wingspan of around 3 feet, but not one of the giant bats.  It is a fruit eater, but also chews on leaves and flowers (drinking the juice and spitting out the rest as a pellet).  And, unlike most bats that fly at night, this large bat is quite easy to see as it is diurnal, foraging in the mornings and evenings when there is still plenty of light out to watch them.

​Overall, the bat is locally common, but unlike many flying foxes it roosts mainly alone or in small family groups and the males maintain territories.  So it is hard to estimate the population of these bats as there aren't just a few large roosts to visit.  And while it is known from the Samoan Islands and also Fiji, the overall trend seems to be that the population is declining due to habitat loss and in part to hunting (although strong conservation efforts have reduced the threat of hunting significantly).

​An interesting side note is that Samoa is, or was, home to one of the giant bats.  With a wingspan over 5 feet, the Large Samoan Flying Fox was discovered on an expedition in the mid-1800s, but not actually described as a new species until 2009 (from the collected specimen found in a jar at the Smithsonian I believe).  It has the Latin name of Pteropus coxi, and is widely considered extinct.

The reverse of the coin is far more standard issue.  It is the national arms along with the country's name and the denomination.

​But, since this is a proof issue, it has the fun ability to look different depending on how you light it.  So here is the same coin with different lighting to show the mirror-like finish on the flat surfaces and the cameo finish on the raised surfaces.

This coin comes from the island nation of Fiji, and is a beautiful coin with an all-star bat on it.

​First the coin.  It is a 10-cent piece (about 5 cents US), about the size of a US nickel and made of nickel-plated steel.  The minting of these was done really well and uncirculated examples can be really sharp looking.

​On the obverse is the country name, the date, and the local name for the bat: Beka mirimiri.  The bat is the Fijian monkey-faced bat or just the Fiji flying fox (Mirimiri acrodonta).  There are six species of bats on Fiji, three of which are flying foxes, and this is by far the smallest of the bunch.  It measures just about 4 inches from nose to butt, ignoring all the wing and tail membranes.

​It is among the cutest bats in the world, with a roundish face and, believe it or not, bright orange eyes.  It is also one of the world's rarest bats, known only from above 3,000 feet elevation in the montane cloud forest of Des Voeux peak on the island of Taveuni.

While the local people see this bat on occasion, for the most part it was only known from a few museum specimens until rather recently.  Conservationists have worked hard to learn more about the bat, but it is so rare that this has been a very difficult task.  Yet it has been captured in the wild, including a pregnant female, and work continues to learn more about what it eats, where it roosts, what its habitat requirements are and if there are any populations on other high peaks among the islands.

​The reverse has the 10 cent denomination on it.  Note that pretty much all the world puts the number 10 on a coin worth 10 whatevers, but the US continues to confuse international tourists and new arrivals by NOT putting a 10 on its coin but the words ONE DIME.  Just a bit of coin trivia there.  The object in the middle is the traditional throwing club in the Fijian culture.

​Definitely one of the coolest bats on coins, and a very well-done coin at that.

Today's bat coin is a crossbreed.  If you remember from the last couple blog posts, the 25 fils from the Sultanate of Pemba is technically a fantasy issue, and the Polish 2 Zloty is a legal tender issue.  So what is this coin?

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You guessed it, it is both a fantasy issue and a legal tender coin.  Essentially this is an aftermarket overlay on a real coin, kinda like painting flames on the side of a '57 Chevy.  It's still a Chevy and you can still legally drive it, but it looks rather different.

​So here we have a standard 2016 2 Euro coin from Germany.  The design under the bats is the Zwinger Palace in Dresden and this is considered a commemorative coin.  The D visible protruding from roughly the center of the lowest bat is not a mint mark for Dresden, but the country code for Germany.  The mint mark is a J in the field of orange in the upper right and shows that the coin was made in Hamburg.  To the right of the J are the initials JT for the engraver (Jordi Truxa).  And your German lesson for the day is that the word Sachsen, visible under the D and lowest bat, means Saxony in German.

​The bats, of course, are just some stylized Halloween bats with scary slanty eyes in a generally orange and black motif in keeping with the holiday, so I really don't have much to say about them from a naturalist standpoint.  But they ARE worthy of note.  The first thing is that three of the bats are more like real bat silhouettes, with normal bat ears and feet.  The other two bats are classic Halloween make believe bats with Batman ears and a pointy tail with no feet.  I find the use of two separate styles of bats to be most odd.

​But, there is a real mystery with the bats here.  Did you see it?  Look again if you haven't seen something wrong with this picture...  ...Okay, that's enough time, as this one isn't too hard.  I ask you, just how does a bat end up with its wing BEHIND the moon???  Either that is one remarkably huge and far away bat, or the art is just wrong.  I don't know if the designer missed this bit or just did it anyway to allow for the composition of bats that he/she wanted.  Well, there should always be some mystery surrounding bats at Halloween.

The other side of the coin is just the standard 2 Euro design:

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Not much to say about that.

​Anyway, this coin is marketed with a Certificate of Authenticity (COA) that gives the general stats.  Apparently 2,500 of these were "minted" so there aren't a zillion of them out there.   And I must say that it does come in a quite nice little display box.

So, where in the wide world is the Sultanate of Pemba?  Yes, I have ESP and read your mind.  So let's get to the geography lesson first.  About halfway up the east coast of Africa, sorta in that little nook, there are some islands off the coast of Tanzania.  Of the two largest, the northernmost is Pemba, and the southernmost is...wait for it as you might have heard of this one...Unguja!  Oh no, don't know it yet?  Well most people just call it Zanzibar, after its capitol and largest city.  Now you've heard of it.  And, as a note, the island is officially part of Tanzania.

​But this coin is from Pemba, the island north of Zanzibar, and it does have a bat on it.  This is part of a wildlife series for that year with a different animal on each denomination, although for some reason they put a sailboat (the famous dhow) on the 500 fils coin.

So, let's take a look at the coin:

A spiffy-looking coin.  It is octagonal and just a hair bigger than a US quarter with lettering in both English and Arabic.  The design is pretty clean with a clear focus on the bat.  Which brings up the question of what bat is it?  A generic bat or a specific bat?  Well, I am going to have to guess here, but this should be right.

​Pemba is home to 12 species of bats, three of them are flying foxes.  And one of the flying foxes is quite special.  It is endemic to Pemba and is a true giant, having a wingspan of over 5 feet!!!  So it would only be right to put that bat on the coin.  The bat is the Pemba Flying Fox (Pteropus Voeltzkowi).  Almost pushed to extinction by the 1990s, a major conservation effort has helped restore populations from a few hundred bats to a currently estimated 20,000 individuals.  I love a happy ending, but there is only so much habitat on the island and measures need to stay in place to keep this amazing bat  around for future generations to marvel at.

The flip side of the coin is a flower motif and says "Pemba 2013" in Arabic.  I don't like to guess too much, but since I started above I will continue here.  My theory is that this symbol represents spices, since Pemba is part of one of several areas known as the Spice Islands and, for your fact of the day, there are some 3.5 million clove trees on the island.

​And finally, for the true coin nerd, this is not considered a "circulating issue" but exonumia.  Sort of that which is very coin-like but not legal tender, which is also sometimes referred to as a Fantasy Issue.  And there you have it.