Each year since 1988, the Isle of Man Government has released an annual coin depicting a different beautiful cat to the delight of cat lovers and coin collectors everywhere. As legal tender on the Isle of Man, every coin bears on its obverse a fine effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, while the reverse displays a superbly detailed relief of the star feline for that year. Most of these coins are made of CuNi (Cupro Nickel) in a Brilliant Uncirculated minting, which gives them amazingly fine detail on the shiny finish. Some coins are available in one troy ounce of .999 fine Silver in a Proof quality (frosted relief on a deep mirror background). A few of the coins are also available in 1/25 and/or 1/10 troy ounce of .9999 fine Gold in an Uncirculated condition.
Each of the coins subsequent to the first coin also shows a small Manx cat in the background. The Manx cat is a breed of cat that is naturally missing its tail (one of only three breeds of "tail-less cats"), and cat experts disagree as to the exact place of origin for the Manx cat. Although it is unlikely that the Manx cat originated on the Isle of Man, this country has adopted the Manx cat as its national symbol (along with the Queen, of course). That’s why every cat coin has a Manx cat appearing somewhere on it. These beautiful cat coins are extremely popular with cat enthusiasts around the world, and they would make a "purrfect" and unique gift for any cat person!