| Date: |
09-04-2016 |
| Subject: |
The Silver Ivory Coast Elephant, largest silver coin in the world, now available in India |
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KOLKATA: If you are keen to invest in metals, look no further. The largest silver coin in the world --The Silver Ivory Coast Elephant --weighing an astounding 55 kgs or 120 pounds is now available in India. The coin measures 650 mm (two feet) in diameter roughly the size of a manhole cover and is made of .999 fine silver. It has been issued by Ivory Coast, and has a face value of 1,000,000 Francs CFA (Communaute Financiere d'Afrique or "Financial Community of Africa").
Converted into Indian currency, each hand-carved coin would cost -- hold your breath - a whopping one crore rupees or 1.25 lakh euros (shipping, import duty and other taxes applicable as per actuals)!
Only fifteen such coins have minted by leading coin making company Gieger Edelmetalle GmbH of Germany. The company has allotted only one such coin has been allotted to India and it is being offered by A G Impex, a Kolkata-based firm involved manufacture and sale of custom-made coins and stamps. Incidentally, the metal alone in the coin 55 kgs of silver would cost roughly around Rs 40 lakh.
The obverse of this larger-than-life coin depicts something equally massive: the African elephant. The French inscription on the coin reads "Le Monde Animal en Peril," or "The Animal World in Peril." While agricultural and human population gains have reduced the elephant's expansive habitat, every year thousands of them lose their lives at the hands of poachers for tusks. In particular, the elephant depicted on the coin is a 'mammoth' found in the Ivory Coast which conservationists fear will soon become extinct. Being marketed as an investor's 'dream conversation piece' the enormous coin is mounted on a steel stand for display. Whether those conversations center around conservation, wildlife, travel, silver or numismatics, this coin is being touted as a collector's piece. "People who buy such items retain them for their value. These days, investment in metals may not yield significant returns, per se. However, such hand-crafted and unique metal coins are highly valued by big ticket investors," Alok Goyal of AG Impex said.
Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com
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