Collectible silver coin Series: My lovely city Name: Irkutsk, Russia Origin: Hong Kong Issuer: Mega Power Hong Kong Group Limited Made by: Mega Power Hong Kong Group Limited Designer: Iren Ter Sarkisyan Weight: 31,1gr Standard: 999 Diameter: 40 mm Face value: Piastre Mintage: 1000 Year: 2012 Obverse Irkutsk, the capital of the Eastern Siberia and of the region of the same name It shows the building of the Railway Station and the monument of Alexander III who started building the Trans-Siberian Railway. Reverse The coat of arms of Irkutsk province consists of silver shield, against its background there's a running babr with a sable in its teeth. In 16 th Century the word “Babr” in Russian meant a big tiger who personified wisdom and power whereas a sable symbolized the treasure of Siberia. In 1878 when Russian Senate gave its own coat of arms to every Russian province, some confusion in names took place – the babr was called beaver (in Russian – bobr). As a result, the animal on the arms became a fantastic creature, who didn't resemble either beaver or tiger. Later the error in the name of the animal was corrected, but its image is still influenced by the fantasy of authors of the XIX century, the babr on the coat of arms has a beaver tail and web footed hind legs, so a new mythical animal was created. The coat of arms is decorated with golden oak leafs, connected by Andrey ribbon and topped with a crown.

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