Somaliland Lunar

Somaliland entered into the silver bullion arena in 2010 with the debut of the 2010 Lunar Year of the Tiger coin. The bullion series was scheduled to run through 2021, but ended prematurely with the last issue being the Year of the Rooster coin in 2017. The coins had a reported limited mintage of 120,000. It appears that actual sales fell well short of that so the actual mintage could be much lower. The coins from the first four years were minted by the Bavarian State Mint while the final three years were minted in the United States by the Sunshine Mint.

The coins are legal tender in Somaliland and carry a face value of 1000 Shillings. They were produced with 1 Oz of .999 fine silver. The coins all follow a similar design pattern, with the Lunar animal on the obverse and a shield on the reverse. The only exception to the 1 Oz size occurred in 2012 when a 1/4 Oz coin with a face value of 250 Shillings was produced.

Silver Bullion Mintage

Design

Obverse: The central image on the obverse is a depiction of the lunar animal. The Chinese lunar symbol is located directly beneath the image. The phrase "YEAR OF THE [animal] is inscribed from left to right above the central image. A decorative olive branch pattern extends around the bottom half beginning on either side of the Chinese lunar symbol.

Reverse: The reverse of the coin shows the coat of arms of Somaliland. The coat of arms is a scale in balance above an eagle, and in the foreground, two shaking hands, surrounded by olive branches as a symbol of peace. Above the coat of arms "REPUBLIC OF SOMALILAND" is inscribed. The date of issue is inscribed below the coat of arms. To the left of the date the purity and weight of "1 OZ 999 SILVER" is inscribed and the denomination of "1000 SHILLINGS" is located to the right.