5 Yuan Tiger

1996 year


Bronze	13.1 g	32 mm

Description

Issuer	People's Republic of China
Period	People's Republic (1949-date)
Type	Circulating commemorative coin
Year	1996
Value	5 Yuan (5元, 伍圓) 5 CNY = USD 0.71
Currency	Second Rénmínbì (1955-date)
Composition	Bronze
Weight	13.1 g
Diameter	32 mm
Thickness	2 mm
Shape	Round
Technique	Milled
Orientation	Medal alignment ↑↑
Updated	2024-10-04

References

Numista	N#13875
Rarity index	47%

Reverse

South China tiger

Lettering:
中国珍稀野生动物 — 华南虎
5元

Edge

Alternating reeded and smooth

Comment

The South China tiger is a tiger from a specific population of the Panthera tigris tigris subspecies that is native to southern China. The population mainly inhabited the Fujian, Guangdong, Hunan and Jiangxi provinces. It has been listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 1996 and is possibly extinct in the wild since no wild individual has been recorded since the late 1980s. In the late 1990s, continued survival was considered unlikely because of low prey density, widespread habitat degradation and fragmentation, and other human pressures. In the fur trade, it used to be called Amoy tiger.

Interesting fact

The 1996 5 Yuan Tiger coin from the People's Republic of China was part of a series of commemorative coins issued to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year. The tiger is one of the 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac, and this coin was issued to mark the Year of the Tiger. The coin's design features a majestic tiger on the obverse, with the Chinese characters for "People's Republic of China" and "1996" on the reverse. The coin was made of bronze and weighed 13.1 grams. It was circulated widely in China and is still considered a popular collector's item today.