World silver · 6 min read

The Somalian Elephant: a complete history

The Somalian Silver Elephant is one of the more intriguing coins in any collection, beautiful, beautifully made, and wrapped in a genuine mystery about who actually authorises it. Struck in Germany for an African nation, with an annually changing elephant design, it has built a devoted following among collectors who enjoy both its artistry and its slightly unconventional story.

An African coin made in Bavaria

Despite its name, the Somalian Elephant is not struck in Africa at all. It is made by the Bavarian State Mint in Munich, one of Germany's state mints and, founded in 1158, the oldest minting company in the city, older than the modern German state itself. The mint has a long reputation for precision work in coins, medals and seals, and that craftsmanship shows in the Elephant's fine relief and finish.

From Zambia to Somalia

The coin's history has a twist. The African Wildlife elephant first appeared in 1999, but under the authority of Zambia, which issued it through the Bavarian State Mint until 2003. In 2004 the series transferred to the Somali Republic, and it has carried the Somali coat of arms ever since. That transfer is the source of the coin's mystique: Somalia's long political turmoil has made the paperwork hard to verify, and some commentators question the coin's exact legal-tender standing. None of that affects what the coin physically is, a precisely struck ounce of fine silver, and the intrigue has, if anything, added to collector interest.

The changing elephant

Like the Chinese Panda and the Australian Kangaroo, the Elephant changes its design every year, which is central to its collectability. Each year's coin shows a different scene of African elephants, sometimes a lone bull against mountains and a setting sun, sometimes a family group, always under the African Wildlife and Elephant inscriptions with the weight and purity. In its long run the mint has repeated a design only once, reusing the 2009 design in 2010. The reverse carries the Somali coat of arms and the face value in shillings.

Purity, sizes and mintage

The standard coin is one troy ounce of .999 fine silver, with some issues struck in even higher .9999 silver. Early years were genuinely scarce: from 2004 to 2008 the annual mintage was capped at just 5,000 coins, which makes those dates desirable today. As silver demand surged around the financial crisis, the mint lifted the cap from 2009, and mintages rose substantially in later years. In 2017 the series expanded into fractional and larger sizes, from a tenth-ounce up to a kilogram, though the one-ounce coin remains the heart of it. The one-ounce coin is around 38 to 39 mm across.

Collecting and storing Elephants

The Elephant suits collectors who enjoy a coin with a story, an annually changing design, the appeal of a famous old mint, low early mintages and a touch of genuine mystery. For storage, the changing designs and the proof and colourised special issues make condition matter, and the fine surface detail rewards keeping the coin in a capsule away from fingerprints and air. As a roughly 38 to 39 mm one-ounce silver coin, it sits in a similar holder to a post-2013 silver Britannia rather than the larger American Eagle.