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| Mongolia 500 Tugrik Long-Eared Hedgehog Silver Coin |
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| Mongolia 500 togrog Tugrik Silver Coin |
Diameter: 38.61 mm
Quality: Antique finish
Mintage of only 2,500 coins
HIGH RELIEF, SWAROVSKI
On the reverse the animal is pictured in frontal view filling up the entire area. The upper half is dominated by the hedgehogs face and prominent ears. In the lower part of the image the forepaws are poking out beside the head, and the hinpaws are extended towards the viewer. The eyes consist of two special SWAROWSKI ELEMENTS. Along the inferior edge an inscription indicates the name of the series, the year of issue and the binomial name of the small mammal: Wildlife Protection 2012 Hemiechinus Auritus.
The superior half of the obverse shows the Mongolian coat of arms, with the face value indicated in Cyrillic: ‘500 Togrog’ right underneath. In the exergue the issuing country, weight and fineness are listed: ‘Mongolia 1oz .999 Silver’. The edge is inwardly jagged.
The long-eared hedgehog is one of about 25 species in the hedgehog family. Except for one distinctive characteristic, the long-eared hedgehog‘s build hardly differs from the European forest and field hedgehog. As the name already implies its ears are disproportionately long. On the one hand they serve as the animal’s heat regulation mechanism and on the other hand, they give the hedgehog a first-rate sense of hearing for hunting. Mostly it prefers chasing grasshoppers and bugs. It also feeds on small vertebrates and plants. Long-eared hedgehogs live in dry areas such as deserts (e.g. the Gobi Desert in Mongolia) or steppes and in some regions they hibernate for up to three months. They are solely nocturnal animals and despite their small build of only 12 to 27 centimetres, are able to flee very fast and over great distances, namely up to nine kilometres per night.