This birdwing butterfly design originally appeared on the 1-toea coin (KM#1 1975-2004) and features Ornithoptera paradisea, which is often called "the most desirable birdwing the world over." The brightly coloured males reach 135 mm in size, and good quality specimens sell for hundreds of dollars. Birdwing butterflies are actually three different genuses of butterfly with many different species.
You can see some images here.
Thanks to Maria for gifting this beautiful coin to the Zoo.
All coin images in Daniel's Coin Zoo are from my personal collection. I collect, research, and personally photograph every coin displayed on this site. PLEASE do not take my images without permission. If you would like to use any coin image you see, just ask me. Thank you.