Brazil 5 reais

The Efígie da República is used as a national personification, both, in Brazil and in Portugal, symbolizing the Republic.

The effigy is a representation of a young woman wearing a crown of bay leaves in Roman style. It is present in allegoric paintings and sculptures displayed in government buildings throughout Brazil, and engraved on Brazilian real coins and banknotes. It was first used as a pro-Republican icon in the 19th century, inspired by France's Marianne. After the proclamation of the Republic in 1889, it became an important symbol of the newly formed Republic.

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The Great Egret (Ardea alba), also known as Great White Egret, Common Egret, or Great White Heron, is a large, widely-distributed egret. Distributed across most of the tropical and warmer temperate regions of the world, in southern Europe it is rather localized. In North America it is more widely distributed, and it is ubiquitous across the Sun Belt of the United States and in the rainforests of South America. It is sometimes confused with the Great White Heron in Florida, which is a white morph of the closely related Great Blue Heron (A. herodias). Note, however, that the name Great White Heron has occasionally been used to refer to the Great Egret.

The Great Egret is a large bird with all-white plumage that can reach one meter in height, weigh up to 950 grams and a wingspan of 165 to 215 cm. It is thus only slightly smaller than the Great Blue or Grey Heron (A. cinerea). Apart from size, the Great Egret can be distinguished from other white egrets by its yellow bill and black legs and feet, though the bill may become darker and the lower legs lighter in the breeding season. In breeding plumage, delicate ornamental feathers are borne on the back. Males and females are identical in appearance; juveniles look like non-breeding adults. It is a common species, usually easily seen.

It has a slow flight, with its neck retracted. This is characteristic of herons and bitterns, and distinguishes them from storks, cranes, ibises, and spoonbills, which extend their necks in flight.

The Great Egret is not normally a vocal bird; at breeding colonies, however, it often gives a loud croaking cuk cuk cuk.

Samoa 20 tala, 2008

The 50m Sopo'aga Waterfall situated on Le Mafa Pass Road, Upolu island.
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Manumea or Samoan Pigeon (Didunculus strigirostris), national bird of Samoa.
The Tooth-billed Pigeon (Didunculus strigirostris) also known as Samoan Pigeon, is a medium-sized, approximately 34 cm long, dark pigeon with reddish feet and bare skin around eye. The underparts, head and neck are blackish with a slight blue-green iridescence, and the tail, wings-coverts and tertials are chestnut, while the remaining remiges are blackish. It has a large, curved, and hooked orange bill with toothlike projections on the lower mandible. Both sexes are similar, but the juvenile is duller, with a black bill with only the base orange.

The only extant member in the monotypic genus Didunculus, the Tooth-billed Pigeon is confined to undisturbed forests of Samoa in the Pacific. It feeds almost exclusively on the fruits of Dysoxylum, a tree in the mahogany family.

The species was probably found in October or November 1839, by the United States' Exploring Expedition under Commander Wilkes. The discovery of the bird was announced by Hugh Edwin Strickland in September 1844 as being among the rarities obtained by Mr. Titian Peale, the naturalist of the expedition. The formal description was made by William Jardine (Ann. Nat. Hist. xvi. p. 175, plate 9), under the name of Gnathodon strigirostris, although that genus name was already in use for a mollusc.

The Tooth-billed Pigeon has no close living relative, and may represent a link between the pigeons and the extinct Dodo (Didunculus means "little Dodo" and the English name of Dodlet was suggested by Sir Richard Owen). The jaw and tongue structure, and the superficially parrotlike bill have suggested a relationship to the parrots, but these features have arisen from its specialised diet rather than any real relationship.

Because of ongoing habitat loss, limited range, small population size, and occasional natural disasters, the Tooth-billed Pigeon is evaluated as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Romania 50 lei, 2005 (Swap with Istvan Vidami, Romania)

Aurel Vlaicu (November 19, 1882 – September 13, 1913) was a Romanian engineer, inventor, airplane constructor and early pilot.

Aurel Vlaicu was born in Binţinţi, Transylvania. He attended Calvinist High School in Orăştie and took his Baccalaureate in Sibiu in 1902. He furthered his studies at Technical University of Budapest and Technische Hochschule München in Germany, earning his engineer's diploma in 1907.

After working at Opel car factory in Rüsselsheim, he returned to Binţinţi and built a glider he flew in the summer of 1909. Later that year, he moved to Bucharest, in the Kingdom of Romania, where he began the construction of Vlaicu Nr. I airplane; it flew for the first time on June 17, 1910.

With his Vlaicu Nr. II model, built in 1911, Aurel Vlaicu won several prizes summing 7,500 Austro-Hungarian krone (for precise landing, projectile throwing and tight flying around a pole) in 1912 at Aspern Air Show near Vienna, where he competed against 42 other aviators of the day, including Roland Garros.

Aurel Vlaicu died in 1913 near Câmpina while attempting to cross in flight the Carpathian Mountains in his aged Vlaicu II airplane. He is buried at the Bellu cemetery, in Bucharest.

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Eagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 61 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species (the Bald and Golden Eagles) can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in Central and South America, and three in Australia.

Eagles are large, powerfully built birds of prey, with a heavy head and beak. Even the smallest eagles, like the Booted Eagle, have relatively longer and more evenly broad wings, and more direct, faster flight. Most eagles are larger than any other raptors apart from some vultures. Species named as eagles range in size from the South Nicobar Serpent Eagle, at 500 g and 40 cm , to the 6.7 kg Steller's Sea Eagle and the 100 cm Philippine Eagle. Like all birds of prey, eagles have very large hooked beaks for tearing flesh from their prey, strong muscular legs, and powerful talons. The beak is typically heavier than most other birds of prey. They also have extremely keen eyesight which enables them to spot potential prey from a very long distance. This keen eyesight is primarily contributed by their extremely large pupils which ensure minimal diffraction (scattering) of the incoming light. The female of all species of eagle known are larger than the male.

Eagles normally build their nests, called eyries, in tall trees or on high cliffs. Many species lay two eggs, but the older, larger chick frequently kills its younger sibling once it has hatched. The dominant chick tends to be the female, as they are bigger than the male. The parents take no action to stop the killing.

Romania 10 lei, 2005 (P#119)

Nicolae Grigorescu (May 15, 1838 – July 21, 1907) was one of the founders of modern Romanian painting.

He was born in Pitaru, Dâmboviţa County, Wallachia. In 1843 the family moved to Bucharest. At a young age (between 1846 and 1850), he became an apprentice at the workshop of the painter Anton Chladek and created icons for the church of Băicoi and the monastery of Căldăruşani. In 1856 he created the historical composition Mihai scăpând stindardul (Michael the Brave dropping the flag), which he presented to the Wallachian Prince Barbu Ştirbei, together with a petition asking for financial aid for his studies.

Between 1856 and 1857, he painted the church of the Zamfira monastery, Prahova County, and in 1861 the church of the Agapia monastery. With the help of Mihail Kogălniceanu, he received a scholarship to study in France.

In the autumn of 1861, young Grigorescu left for Paris, where he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts. He also attended the workshop of Sébastien Cornu, where he had as a colleague Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Knowing his weaknesses, he concentrated drawing and composition. However, he soon left this workshop and, attracted by the artistic concepts of the Barbizon school, he left Paris for that village, where he became the associate of artists such as Jean-François Millet, Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, Gustave Courbet and Théodore Rousseau. Under the influence of the movement, Grigorescu looked for new means of expression and followed the trend of en plein air painting, which was also important in Impressionism. As part of the Universal Exposition of Paris (1867), he contributed seven works. Then he exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1868 the painting Tânără ţigancă (Young Gypsy girl).

He returned to Romania a few times and starting in 1870 he participated in the exhibits of living artists and those organized by the Society of the Friends of the Belle-Arts. Between 1873 and 1874 he traveled to Italy, Greece and Vienna.

In 1877 he was called to accompany the Romanian Army as a "frontline painter" in the Romanian War of Independence. During the battles at the Grivitsa Strongpoint and Oryahovo, he made drawings and sketches which later used in creating larger-scale works.

In 1889 his work was featured in the Universal Exhibition in Paris and at the Romanian Atheneum. Centerpiece exhibits took place at the Romanian Atheneum would follow in 1891, 1895, 1897, 1902, and 1905.

From 1879 to 1890 he worked in France, especially in Vitré, Brittany, and in his workshop in Paris. In 1890 he settled in Câmpina and started depicting pastoral themes, especially portraits of peasant girls, pictures of ox carts on dusty country roads and other landscapes. He was named honorary member of the Romanian Academy in 1899.

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Traditional house in Oltenia - Oltenia, also called Lesser Wallachia in antiquated versions, with the alternate Latin names Wallachia Minor, Wallachia Alutana, Wallachia Caesarea between 1718 and 1739) is a historical province and geographical region of Romania, in western Wallachia. It is situated between the Danube, the Southern Carpathians and the Olt river (although counties in the east extend beyond the river in Muntenia in some areas).


Map of Romania with Oltenia highlighted

Yemen 250 rials

Thailand 60 baht, 2006

The Sixtieth Anniversary Celebrations of HM The King Bhumibol Adulyadej's Accession to the Throne 2006 were the celebrations held throughout Thailand from the beginning to the end of 2006 in order to celebrate Bhumibol Adulyadej's 60th year on the throne. The celebrations were arranged by the Royal Thai Government with Thaksin Shinawatra as Prime Minister, and joined by global monarchs.

Zambia 50 kwacha, 2009

Zambia 100 kwacha, 2009

Zambia 20 kwacha, 1992

Zambia 500 kwacha, 2008