1981 GOLD UGANDA 5000 SHILLINGS "WILDLIFE SERIES CROWNED CRANE" NGC PROOF 69 ULTRA CAMEO ONLY 100 MINTED

REPUBLIC OF UGANDA

2ND REIGN OF DICTATOR - PRESIDENT MILTON OBOTE (1979-1885)

WILDLIFE SERIES - EAST AFRICAN GREY CROWNED CRANE

5,000 GOLD SHILLINGS CERTIFIED BY NGC PROOF 69 ULTRA CAMEO

RARE-ONLY 100 MINTED!

OBV: PORTRAIT BUST OF MILTON OBOTE FACING; DATE RIGHT.

REV: GREY CROWNED CRANE LEFT STANDING IN MARSH; DENOMINATION FLANKING CRANE AT RIM; NICKNAME OF UGANDA, "PEARL OF AFRICA" AT BOTTOM.

KM #25

THE GREY CROWNED CRANE (BALEARICA REGULORUM) IS FOUND IN EASTERN AND SOUTHERN AFRICA.

THE GREY CROWNED CRANE IS THE NATIONAL BIRD OF UGANDA, AND IS FEATURED ON UGANDA’S FLAG, AND AS A SUPPORTER ON THE COAT OF ARMS.

ALTHOUGH THE GREY CROWNED CRANE FACES SIGNIFICANT THREATS DUE TO DRAINAGE OF WETLANDS, OVERGRAZING OF LIVESTOCK, PESTICIDE POLLUTION OR DELIBERATE POISONING, HUNTING AND EGG THEFT FOR USE AS FOOD, THE ILLEGAL PET TRADE, AND ELECTROCUTION FROM COLLISION WITH OVERHEAD POWERLINES, IT STILL REMAINS COMMON OVER SOME OF ITS RANGE. GLOBALLY, THEIR POPULATION IS THOUGHT TO BE BETWEEN 26,500 AND 77,000 INDIVIDUALS. HOWEVER, IN 2012 ITS STATUS WAS CHANGED FROM VULNERABLE TO ENDANGERED.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SPECIES INCLUDE AN ELONGATED BODY AND NECK, A SLATE GRAY OVERALL COLORATION WITH WHITE WINGS, AND DARK GRAY TO BLACK FEATHERS WITH CHESNUT MARKINGS. THEY HAVE BARE CHEEK PATCHES WITH A RED PATCH ON TOP AND WHITE UNDERNEATH, AND ARE SURMOUNTED BY A LARGE STIFF CROWN OF FEATHERS COVERING THE HEAD WHICH IS GOLDEN-YELLOW IN COLOR. THEY ALSO HAVE A BRIGHT RED INFLATABLE THROAT PATCH UNDER THE BLACK BEAK. MALES ARE LARGER THAN THE FEMALES. THEY ARE THE ONLY BIRD IN THE CRANE FAMILY THAT ROOST IN TREES.

ON THE OBVERSE OF THIS COIN IS APOLLO MILTON OBOTE (1925-2005), FIRST PRIME MINISTER (1962-1966) AND THE SECOND PRESIDENT (FROM 1966-1971, AND AGAIN FROM 1980-1985) OF UGANDA AFTER INDEPENDENCE FROM GREAT BRITAIN.

AS PRIME MINISTER, OBOTE WAS IMPLICATED, ALONG WITH GENERAL IDI AMIN DADA, IN A GOLD SMUGGLING PLOT. WHEN PARLIAMENT INSISTED ON AN INVESTIGATION, OBOTE DECLARED HIMSELF PRESIDENT, AND GAVE HIMSELF UNLIMITED POWER.

AFTER AN ATTEMPT ON HIS LIFE IN 1969, OBOTE ABOLOSHED ALL OPPOSTION POLITICAL PARTIES, JAILED OPPONENTS FOR LIFE WITHOUT TRIAL, AND HIS SECRET POLICE TERRORIZED AND TORTURED PEOPLE WITH IMPUNITY.

HIS POLICIES MOVED TOWARDS NATIONALISTIC SOCIALISM, AND CORRUPTION BECAME WIDESPREAD. IN 1971, WHILE ATTENDING A CONFERENCE IN SINGAPORE, OBOTE WAS OVERTHROWN BY A MILITARY COUP THAT LEFT IDI AMIN AS PRESIDENT.

IDI AMIN WAS OUSTED IN 1979, AND OBOTE RETURNED ONCE MORE TO POWER. THIS TIME, THE OPPOSITION, BELIEVING IT HAD BEEN A RIGGED ELECTION, STARTED A GUERILLA STYLE CIVIL WAR. IN RESPONSE, OBOTE LAUNCHED A MILITARY ACTION IN 1980 KNOWN AS OPERATION BONANZA. TENS OF THOUSANDS WERE MASSACRED, AND MANY MORE WERE DISPLACED. THE WAR CAUSED BETWEEN 100,000 TO 500,000 UGANDAN DEATHS.

IN 1985, OBOTE WAS AGAIN OUSTED BY A COUP DE’ÉTAT. HE FLED TO KENYA, THEN TO ZAMBIA. IN 2005, HE DIED OF KIDNEY FAILURE IN SOUTH AFRICA. HE WAS GIVEN A STATE FUNERAL IN UGANDA BY HIS BITTER RIVAL, PRESIDENT YOWERI MUSEVENI (REIGN 1986-PRESENT).

IT HAS BEEN ESTIMATED , BY AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL THAT OBOTE’S REGIME HAD BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR OVER 300,000 CIVILIAN DEATHS IN UGANDA.

CONTAINS 33.93 OF 0.917 GOLD ( 1.003 OZ AGW)

32 mm IN DIAMETER

RARE - ONLY 100 MINTED!