Kirsty Mckenzie
A NEW coin celebrating one of the most emblematic species in Spain, which was once on the brink of extinction, has been launched by Degussa.
The piece is the first one featuring the Iberian lynx on a €1.5 coin.
The announcement of the latest addition comes just days after World Lynx Day was marked on Sunday, December 12.
Just 12,000 units of the new coin are set to be released at the start of 2022 – and are the first bullion coins made in Spain.
Sadly, the coin isn’t going into general circulation so you won’t find it in your spare change anytime soon.
The new edition Iberian Lynx coins will be released next month, measuring 37 mm in diameter and emblazoned with the head of the Iberian lynx.
The coin will be available worldwide, with collectors predicted to spend wild amounts to secure the Lynx collector’s item.
One of the world’s big cats, the Lynx faced near extinction at the beginning of the 20th century, when there were 100,000 of the animals left in the world and just 52 mature individuals in 2002.
Thanks to the efforts of animal activists and a £24million programme partly funded by the European Union there are now 110,000 big cats in Spain today.
But the WWF has said this year that it is ‘essential to reach at least 3,000 to 3,500 individuals, of which 750 should be breeding females’ in order to move the Iberian lynx out of the danger zone.
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