W014
Silver and bronze antique finish, .999 Silver, UNC
3.5 cm square (1-3/8”), 32 grams
HISTORY: This coin is legal tender of Mongolia and produced by their Bank of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar (capital of Mongolia), with a total mintage of 2,500 coins. One tögrög (occasionally referred to as төгрөг) is equal to one Russian ruble, or 2,432 to the U.S. dollar.
In 1482, Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) was commissioned by Ludovico Sforza (1452–1508), the Duke of Milan, to create one of the world’s largest horse sculptures (also known as Gran Cavallo). Da Vinci spent the next few years designing and sketching possible ideas for this monumental task, including the creation of a clay statuette. The actual statue was never realized full size. During the French invasion of Milan in 1499, da Vinci’s statuette was destroyed. Over the following five centuries, attempts to recreate the model, based on da Vinci’s numerous sketches, have been carried out. A likeness — a bronze statuette — resides in the Budapest Museum of Fine Arts. Originally, the warrior would have had a sword in his right hand, but it has been lost to history.
OBVERSE: The right side of the bronzed horse and rider dominate this unusual square coin set at a diamond angle. To the left is the logo of the Bank of Mongolia, which is a feature on many of its coins. On the right edge is the denomination 500 төгрөг, and below the statue are the words, “MONGOLIA 1OZ .999 SILVER.”
REVERSE: The left, shield side of the horse and rider are shown. The right corner spells out “EQUESTRIAN,” and below the hooves is the year “2005.”
