Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan 10 Tenge 1993
Front: Bust of Shoqan Valikhanov Walikhanuli (1835-1865)
Back: Mount Okzhetpes in Borovoye

Shoqan Shynghysuly Walikhanov given name Muhammed Qanafiya (November 1835 — April 10, 1865) was a Kazakh scholar, ethnographer, historian and participant of The Great Game. He is regarded as the father of modern Kazakh historiography and ethnography. The Kazakh Academy of Sciences is named after him. His name is written Shoqan Walikhanov in English based on the transliteration of the Russian spelling of his name, which he used himself. The Kazakh language variant of his name was written in the Arabic script, and was similar to the Russian version. His work combined military intelligence and geographic exploration. His first successful expedition was his 1855-56 mission to the region of Issyq Köl. He was afterwards called to the capital in St. Petersburg in 1857 to report, and there he was elected to the Russian Geographical Society. Read more

Portrait of Shoqan Walikhanov made in St. Petersburg by I. A. Kardovsky

Shoqan Walikhanov on a 1965 Soviet commemorative stamp.

Information and Image Obtained From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Italy

Italy 500 Lire 1976
Front: Winged head of Mercury  a god of trade and a messenger in Roman mythology.
Back: Zeus on a geared Trojan Horse.

Mercury is a major Roman god, being one of the Dii Consentes within the ancient Roman pantheon. He is the patron god of financial gain, commerce, eloquence (and thus poetry), messages/communication (including divination), travelers, boundaries, luck, trickery and thieves; he is also the guide of souls to the underworld. He was considered the son of Maia and Jupiter in Roman mythology. His name is possibly related to the Latin word merx ("merchandise"; compare merchant, commerce, etc.), mercari (to trade), and merces (wages).In his earliest forms, he appears to have been related to the Etruscan deity Turms, both of which share characteristics with the Greek god Hermes. In Virgil's Aeneid, Mercury reminds Aeneas of his mission to found the city of Rome. In Ovid's Fasti, Mercury is assigned to escort the nymph Larunda to the underworld. Mercury, however, fell in love with Larunda and made love to her on the way. Larunda thereby became mother to two children, referred to as the Lares, invisible household gods.

Mercury has influenced the name of many things in a variety of scientific fields, such as the planet Mercury, and the element mercury. The word mercurial is commonly used to refer to something or someone erratic, volatile or unstable, derived from Mercury's swift flights from place to place. He is often depicted holding the caduceus in his left hand.

Silver statuette of Mercury, a Berthouville treasure

Mercury portrait on a bronze Semuncia (215-211 BC)

Information and Image Obtained From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Indonesia

Indonesia 10000 Rupiah VG 2009
Front: Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II (1767-1862)
Back: Rumah Limas - traditional pyramid-shaped houses in Palembang, South Sumatra.

Indonesia

Indonesia 50000 Rupiah VG 2012
Front: Lieutenant Colonel I Gusti Ngurah Rai (1917–1946)
Back: Beratan Lake in Bedugul, Bali

Indonesia

Indonesia 50000 Rupiah VG 2012
Front: Lieutenant Colonel I Gusti Ngurah Rai (1917–1946)
Back: Beratan Lake in Bedugul, Bali

Lieutenant Colonel I Gusti Ngurah Rai 30 January 1917-20 November 1946) is an Indonesian National Hero who commanded Indonesian forces in Bali against the Dutch during the Indonesian War of Independence. He was killed in the Battle of Margarana. Ngurah Rai was born in Desa Carangsari, Kabupaten Badung Bali on 30 January 1917. He studied at a Dutch elementary school, then went to high school in Malang, East Java. He then received Dutch military training at the Military Cadet School in Gianyar, Bali and Magelang, Central Java. After graduating, he joined the Dutch-sponsored military as a second lieutenant in Bali. Read more

Statue of I Gusti Ngurah Rai, Bali.

Pura Ulun Danu Bratan

Bedugul is a mountain lake resort area in Bali, Indonesia, located in the centre-north region of the island near Lake Bratan on the road between Denpasar and Singaraja. Bedugul is located at 48 kilometres (30 mi) north of the city of Denpasar. Other nearby lakes are Lake Buyan, and Lake Tamblingan.
Bedugul enjoys a mild mountain weather due to its location at an altitude of about 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) above the sea level.
Major sites in Bedugul are the Pura Ulun Danu Bratan water temple and the Eka Karya Botanic Gardens. The Botanic Garden, opened in 1959. With a total area of 157.5 hectares (389 acres) is the largest in Indonesia. Read more

Information and Image Obtained From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Russia

Russia 10 Rubles 1997 G
Front: Krasnoyarsk, bridge,
Back: Dam

Krasnoyarsk is a city and the administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located on the Yenisei River. It is the third largest city in Siberia after Novosibirsk and Omsk, with a population of 973,826 (2010 Census). Krasnoyarsk is an important junction of the Trans-Siberian Railway and one of Russia's largest producers of aluminium.
The city is notable for its nature landscapes; author Anton Chekhov judged Krasnoyarsk to be the most beautiful city in Siberia. The city was founded on August 19, 1628 as a Russian border fort when a group of service class people from Yeniseysk led by Andrey Dubenskoy arrived at the confluence of the Kacha and Yenisei Rivers and constructed fortifications intended to protect the frontier from attacks of native peoples who lived along Yenisei and its tributaries. Along with Kansk to the east, it represented the southern limit of Russian expansion in the Yenisei basin during the seventeenth century. Read more

Information Obtained From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Spain

Spain 10 Pesetas 1935 Fine
Front: Woman

Spain

Spain 5 Pesetas 1935 Fine
Front: Woman

Malaysia RM 100, 2012 (Fourth Series)

Malaysia RM 100 unc 16 July 2012
Front: Tuanku Abdul Rahman with the national flower, hibiscus, and patterns
of the traditional fabric - the songket
Back: Mount Kinabalu and pinnacles rock formations of Gunung Api valley

Mount Kinabalu (Malay: Gunung Kinabalu) is a prominent mountain on the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. It is located in the East Malaysian state of Sabah and is protected as Kinabalu National Park, a World Heritage Site. Kinabalu is the highest peak in Borneo's Crocker Range and is the highest mountain in the Malay Archipelago. Mount Kinabalu is also the 20th most prominent mountain in the world by topographic prominence.
In 1997, a re-survey using satellite technology established its summit (known as Low's Peak) height at 4,095 metres (13,435 ft) above sea level, which is some 6 metres (20 ft) less than the previously thought and hitherto published figure of 4,101 metres (13,455 ft).
Mount Kinabalu includes the Kinabalu montane alpine meadows ecoregion in the montane grasslands and shrublands biome. The mountain and its surroundings are among the most important biological sites in the world, with between 5000 and 6000 species of plants, 326 species of birds, and more than 100 mammalian species identified. Among this rich collection of wildlife are famous species such as the gigantic Rafflesia plants and the orangutan. Mount Kinabalu has been accorded UNESCO World Heritage status.
Low's Peak can be climbed quite easily by a person in good physical condition and there is no need for mountaineering equipment at any point on the main route. Other peaks along the massif, however, require rock climbing skills. Read more

Information Obtained From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Malaysia New RM 5 2012 (Fourth Series)

Malaysia RM 5 unc 16 July 2012
Front: Tuanku Abdul Rahman with the national flower, hibiscus, and patterns
of the traditional fabric - the songket
Back: Rhinoceros Hornbill

The Rhinoceros Hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros) is one of the largest hornbills, adults being approximately the size of a swan, 91–122 cm (36–48 in) long and weighing 2–3 kg (4.4–6.6 lbs). The Rhinoceros Hornbill lives in captivity for up to 90 years. It is found in lowland and montane, tropical and subtropical and in the mountain rain forests up to 1,400 metres altitude in Borneo, Sumatra, Java, the Malay Peninsula, Singapore and southern Thailand.
The Rhinoceros Hornbill is the state bird of the Malaysian state of Sarawak. For some Dayak people, it represents their war god, Singalang Burong. Read more

Information and Image Obtained from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Malaysia New RM 10, 2012 (Fourth Series)

Malaysia RM 10 16 July 2012 UNC

Front: Tuanku Abdul Rahman with the national flower, hibiscus
Back: Rafflesia

Malaysia New RM 1, 2012 (Fourth Series)

Malaysia RM 1 16 July 2012 UNC
Front: Tuanku Abdul Rahman with the national flower, hibiscus
Back: Wau Bulan

Malaysia New RM 1, 2012 (Fourth Series)

Malaysia RM 1 16 July 2012 UNC
Front: Tuanku Abdul Rahman with the national flower, hibiscus
Back: Wau Bulan

Malaysia New RM 20, 2012 (Fourth Series)

Malaysia RM 20 16 July 2012 UNC
Front: Tuanku Abdul Rahman with the national flower, hibiscus
Back: Hawksbill and Leatherback turtle

The hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) is a critically endangered sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. It is the only extant species in its genus. The species has a worldwide distribution, with Atlantic and Pacific subspecies. E. i. imbricata is the Atlantic subspecies, while E. i. bissa is found in the Indo-Pacific region.
The hawksbill's appearance is similar to that of other marine turtles. It has a generally flattened body shape, a protective carapace, and flipper-like arms, adapted for swimming in the open ocean. E. imbricata is easily distinguished from other sea turtles by its sharp, curving beak with prominent tomium, and the saw-like appearance of its shell margins. Hawksbill shells slightly change colors, depending on water temperature. While this turtle lives part of its life in the open ocean, it spends more time in shallow lagoons and coral reefs. Read More

The leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), sometimes called the lute turtle, is the largest of all living turtles (as well as the largest extant sea turtle) and is the fourth largest modern reptile behind three crocodilians. It is the only living species in the genus Dermochelys. It can easily be differentiated from other modern sea turtles by its lack of a bony shell. Instead, its carapace is covered by skin and oily flesh. Dermochelys coriacea is the only extant member of the family Dermochelyidae. Read more

Information and Image Obtained From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Japan

Japan 1000 Yen 2003 AUNC
Front: Bacteriologist Hideo Noguchi
Back: Mt. Fuji

Hideyo Noguchi (November 24, 1876 – May 21, 1928), also known as Seisaku Noguchi was a prominent Japanese bacteriologist who discovered the agent of syphilis as the cause of progressive paralytic disease in 1911. Noguchi Hideyo was born in Inawashiro, Fukushima prefecture in 1876. When he was one and a half years old he fell down into a fireplace and suffered a burn injury on his left hand. There was no doctor in the small village, but one of the men examined the boy. "The fingers of the left hand are mostly gone," he said, "and the left arm and the left foot and the right hand are burned; I know not how badly."

In 1883 he entered Mitsuwa elementary school. Thanks to generous contributions from his teacher Kobayashi and his friends, he was able to receive surgery on his badly burned left hand. He recovered about 70% mobility and functionality in his left hand through the operation. Read more

Hideyo Noguchi with signature

Born November 24, 1876

Inawashiro, Fukushima prefecture

Died May 21, 1928 (aged 51)

Accra, Ghana

Nationality Japan

Fields bacteriology

Known for syphilis

Treponema pallidum

Information and Image Obtained From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia