2017-08-31 Thu

A new coloured titanium coin has been released by Pobjoy Mint featuring a Patagonian Toothfish on the reverse for the Falkland Islands. The coin honours 30 years of dedicated work by Falkland Islands Fisheries Department to maintain fish populations around the Falkland Islands.

Titanium reacts in a different manner with every strike, making each coin unique. The coin also showcases a lined effect that is caused due to the unique properties of the metal. The obverse features a portrait of Queen Elizabeth. The coins come wrapped in special packaging along with a Certificate of Authenticity. The mintage limit of the 10.00 g Titanium coin is 2,000 while that of the 28.28 g CuNi coin is 10,000.

The Patagonian Toothfish is a type of cod found in cold waters mostly in the southern Hemisphere, 45m and 3850m below sea level! Toothfish can grow to become very large and can live for almost 50 years. They feed on squid, small fish, prawns, crabs etc.

A U.S. fish wholesaler renamed the species as ‘Chilean Sea Bass’, since the older name was considered to be unattractive. Prince Charles has always been concerned about overfishing and illegal fishing, which could make this unusual species extinct.

In 1994, dermersal longliners attacked this species at depths of over 600m. Fish stocks decreased from 1994-1999 with the biomass currently at about 50% of what it was earlier. Falkland Islands Fisheries Department was established in 1987. It has created regulated fisheries and worked on data from Patagonian Toothfish catches.