Dipping its toes into both the wildlife and the cultural genres, Mandala Wildlife takes a simple depiction of, to date at least, a large African mammal. In place of skin or fur, the animal is covered by the geometric patterns associated with the Asian mandala style of art. Rather than just overlay a flat pattern – the easy way out – the artist has taken the time to contour the lines around the body in a reasonably realistic way. The end result is clever, stylistically different and quite attractive.

It isn’t all plus points for me, however, because of the choices made regarding placement of inscriptions. There are three of them describing the coin composition on the main face (0.999 twice, and textual). The denomination is prominent at the top of this reverse face also, but is also equally visible on the obverse. Placing the composition unobtrusively at the bottom of the reverse face in a small font, would not only clean up the reverse face, but allow more space for the animal depiction to be enlarged. Strange choices indeed, but minor ones. The core concept and execution is still well done.

The common obverse depicts the beautiful coat of arms of the Republic of Chad. The emblem actually suits the subject very well and does a great job of filling the face. The date is inscribed on this face, which given it’s a common obverse that otherwise would not need new die designs every issue, seems unusual, but that’s hardly a criticism, just a note. Just one ounce gold (0.9999) and one ounce silver (0.999) variants are on offer, which makes perfect sense given their popularity. The series is exclusive to US-based APMEX, who appear to have had success with it, and to whom we owe thanks for the supply of the higher-resolution images you see below.