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Today we're reviewing the 2013 Somali Elephant silver and gold bullion coins. These coins
are rapidly growing in popularity, and it's easy to see why. Every year these coins feature
a new image of the majestic African Elephants of Somalia.
Gainesville Coins has several different varieties of the Somali Elephant coins, from the giant
1 kilo Silver Elephant to the tiny 1/25th and 1/50th ounce gold Elephants, which have
all the detail of their larger kin. These coins are minted in 99.9 % pure silver and
99.9% pure gold.
Let's use the 1 kilo silver elephant to take a look at the design. By the way, this 1 kilogram
coin weighs 32.15 troy ounces. This is 2.2 pounds of pure silver, in as attractive a
design as you're going to find.
This year's design shows an elephant family with their baby at a watering hole, with a
tall Acacia tree in the background. What's cuter than baby elephants?
The African Wildlife Elephant motto is struck around the border, along with the weight and
purity. This series started in 2004, but these coins have never shown any animal except the
elephant.
The obverse features the date split by the coat of arms of Somalia. The arms are composed
of two standing leopards flanking a shield representing the flag of Somalia. Below the
shield are two crossed spears in front of two crossed palm fronds.
The arms are crowned by the legend "Somali Republic." At the bottom is the denomination
in shillings.
In addition to the regular 1oz Silver Elephant, we have a special Snake Privy Silver Elephant
as well. You can also see the snake privy on the 1 kilo coin. Right here is the cobra
snake right here on the right side.
Other special versions of the 2013 silver elephant include this gilded version, and
a colorized version.
Now right here is a beautiful coin. This is the 2013 high relief Somali silver elephant
proof coin. There's something about high relief coins that just fascinate me. I just really
like these.
If we can get a closer shot here, you can see how high the features of this coin are
above the field.
You'll also notice how high the rim around the coin is, on both obverse and reverse.
This is to protect the features from excessive wear. This causes a concave field.
Let's compare the regular Silver Elephant with this high relief version, and you can
see just how much thicker the high relief coin is. It's a beautiful coin, you just really
need to see it in person to appreciate it.
Here are the 1/25th and 1/50th oz 2013 gold Somali elephants. These little guys are 1.244
and 0.622 grams of pure gold, respectively. Easy on the eyes, and easy on the budget.
Lastly, we have a four-coin proof silver Somali elephant set. This set includes a two ounce,
one ounce, half ounce, and quarter ounce proof silver 2013 Somali elephant coin, in an attractive
wooden case.
These coins are not minted in Somalia, which is still rebuilding after a long civil war,
but are instead minted at the ancient Bavarian State Mint in Munich, Germany. The Bavarian
State Mint has been producing coins since the year 1158, and produces circulation coinage
for Germany as well as bullion coins for several nations.
I hope you've enjoyed today's show. Join me next episode, when we commemorate the end
of WWII, with some special proof gold and silver coins from the US and Australia.
Until next time, this is The Coin Explorer reminding you, it's all about the shinies!