Frigate Bird Sun and Sea: Kiribati Coin Charm Penny for Jewelry and Craft Making
The back of the coin bears a frigate bird perched on a branch.
The front of the coin bears a frigate bird in flight above the sea, over the rising sun: the Kiribati coat of arms.
Features
Issuer Kiribati
Period Republic (1979-date)
Type Standard circulation coin
Year 1992
Value 1 Cent (0.01)
Currency Dollar (1979-date)
Composition Copper clad steel
Weight 2.6 g
Diameter 17.5 mm
Thickness 1.56 mm
Shape Round
Orientation Medal alignment ↑↑
Number N# 1592
References KM# 1a, Schön# 1a
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Wikipedia:
The frigate bird appears on the national Flag of Kiribati. The design is based on its former colonial Gilbert and Ellice Islands coat of arms.
There are anecdotal reports of tame frigatebirds being kept across Polynesia and Micronesia in the Pacific. A bird that had come from one island and had been taken elsewhere could be reliably trusted to return to its original home, hence would be used as a speedy way to relay a message there. There is evidence of this practice taking place in the Gilbert Islands and Tuvalu.
The great frigatebird was venerated by the Rapa Nui people on Easter Island; carvings of the birdman Tangata manu depict him with the characteristic hooked beak and throat pouch.[69] Its incorporation into local ceremonies suggests that the now-vanished species was extant there between the 1800s and 1860s.
Maritime folklore around the time of European contact with the Americas held that frigatebirds were birds of good omen as their presence meant land was near.
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Wikipedia:
Kiribati is expected to be the first country to lose all its land territory to climate change. In June 2008, the Kiribati President Anote Tong said that the country had reached "the point of no return." He added, "To plan for the day when you no longer have a country is indeed painful but I think we have to do that."
