Afternoon everyone ….
This is a quarter ounce gold 2023 Somalia Elephant coin. This was one of my favorite coin series ever. I have every year from its beginning in 2004. I did however stop in 2021. It’s not that I don’t like the series, I made a choice in my stacking strategy to stop buying coins that are endless. I’m comfortable with my silver stack and I no longer track new releases like I used to. It’s a combination of not having the time and not wanting to pay these kinds of prices to be forced to buy.
The designs change every year on this series, which I am a big fan of.
While the series started several years before a gold coin was introduced. The first gold coin in this series appeared in 2010.
Here is some history on the series from Wikipedia:
2004 - Present Silver Elephants - The Silver Elephant Coin is one of the most fascinating coins in the African Wildlife Coin Series, which commemorates the characteristic fauna of Africa. Minted by the Das Bayerisches Hauptmünzamt Mint in Munich, Germany, the Silver Elephant coins were first issued in 2004. With a denomination of 100 shillings, the German-manufactured 1 oz Silver Elephant Coin has begun to attract attention from coin collectors all over the world.
One of the most interesting aspects of the Silver Elephant Coin is the location of the coin's production: the Das Bayerisches Hauptmünzamt Mint, or the Bavarian State Mint. Over 800 years old, the Bavarian State Mint has been producing coins since 1158, and it is the oldest company in Munich. One of the five German state mints, the Bavarian State Mint produces collector coins, medals and seals.
Besides its place of manufacture, another of the Silver coin's desirable attributes is its striking design. Celebrating the beauty of the animal kingdom, the Silver Elephant Coin portrays one of the largest mammals found on the African plains: the elephant. Retaining the same design since the Silver coin's release, the obverse of the Silver Elephant Coin depicts two leopards supporting a shield and five-pointed star. Beneath the leopards appears a ribbon draped over two crossed lances and two crossed palm fronds. However, unlike the obverse, the reverse of the Silver Elephant Coin changes annually but always features an illustration of a majestic elephant in its natural habitat.
So I finally added a little bit of gold.
