2017-09-19 Tue

The Falkland Islands is home to over 1 million penguins. The last coin belonging to the 4-coin set celebrating these aquatic birds will be featuring Magellanic penguin. The birds are depicted in colour on 50-pence pieces.

The reverse depicts a Magellanic penguin in colour swimming out to sea with its head coming out of the icy surface. The obverse depicts a Pobjoy Mint exclusive effigy design of Queen Elizabeth II. The 8 grams coin has a mintage limit of 7,500 pieces and can be purchased for $11.95.

The Magellanic penguin is named after Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. They nest in dense flocks in this part of the world. They look similar to Humboldt penguins with black bodies, white abdomen and with two black bands between the head and the chest. A white stripe is seen on the eyebrows. These penguins have a lifespan of almost 25 years. They are monogamous and are faithful to one partner. Like other penguins, they too take turns with their mates to incubate their eggs while the other swims out to sea to feed. These penguins starve till the other partner gets food and fishes from deep seas. Oil spills have resulted in a 20 percent decline in populations in the last 20 years.