New coins courtesy of Maria

Friend and Coin Zoo patron Maria has sent along another envelope from St. Petersburg with the half dozen excellent coins shown above.

The three Brazilian coins are an interesting addition to the Zoo, and I was first made aware of the 5-centavo "fisherman" coin over two years earlier by Maria herself. That lead to the discovery of the 1-centavo rancher coin with the herd of cattle, and the two were on my Need It list until now. Also, the 50-centavo coin with the two fish became known to me only when I opened the envelope it arrived in. That is always a great way to discover a new (old) coin!

The Peruvian tapir coin joins the crocodile and condor coins that Maria also donated, and along with the bear coin it completes (for now?) the new 1-sol Peruvian Endangered Fauna series of commemorative coins.

And that brings us to one of the most interesting new coin sets and, I believe, a first for animal coins: The new set of circulating coins from Moldova. Each of the four coins features a part of the image of an extinct aurochs. Above, you can see the right side of the head on the 1-leu, and the left side on 2-lei. When the 5- and 10-lei coins are released, they will add the top of the head and horns, and mouth to the picture. A very interesting design that I have not seen before on circulating coins.

Many many thanks to Maria for this gift!