27 mm diameter, 15.551 g, silver 99.9%, flat edge Obverse: ROMANIA, face value 50 LEI, Earth symbol inside a drop of water, three wavy lines, year 2003, inscription ANUL INTERNATIONAL AL APEI PURE meaning PURE WATER INTERNATIONAL YEAR	Reverse: along the edge inscription REZERVATIA BIOSFEREI DELTA DUNARII meaning DANUBE DELTA BIOSPHERE RESERVE, ornaments (three rush inflorescences and one leaf) bordering the scientific name EGRETTA ALBA, inside a linear circle a great white egret standing on the ground and another egret flying Issuing date: 27th of November 2003 Mintage: 500 sets
Reverse: along the edge inscription REZERVATIA BIOSFEREI DELTA DUNARII meaning DANUBE DELTA BIOSPHERE RESERVE, ornaments (three rush inflorescences and one leaf) bordering the scientific name ALCEDO ATTHIS, inside a linear circle a common kingfisher sitting on a branch and another kingfisher plunging into water	Reverse: along the edge inscription REZERVATIA BIOSFEREI DELTA DUNARII meaning DANUBE DELTA BIOSPHERE RESERVE, ornaments (three rush inflorescences and one leaf) bordering the scientific name PELECANUS CRISPUS, inside a linear circle a Dalmatian pelican on the ground, another floating on water and another one flying

The great white egret belongs to the order of Ciconiiformes, family of Ardeidae (herons). It reaches 90 centimeters in lenth, being found in Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. In Romania it is a summer guest, being found mainly in the Danube Delta. The few fine, long and thin feathers at the basis of the wings and those on the back - the so called aigrette or aigret - were once used as adornments by the fashion of yore.

The common or European kingfisher belongs to the order of Coraciiformes, family of Alcedinidae (to which belongs also the famous kookaburra bird appearing on the renown series of Australian coins), its scientific name being Alcedo atthis. It reaches 18 centimeters in length, being spread all over Europe, Africa and Asia. In Romania at least it is not a rare species at all, being easily observable on the lakes next to Iaşi.

The Dalmatian pelican (order of Pelecaniformes, family of Pelecanidae) can reach almost 2 meters from the tip of the tail to the tip of the bill. Far less spread than the common great white pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus), this large bird is characterized by the crisp flock of feathers forming some sort of mane on its head.

Word pelican comes from ancient Greek (pelekan) and was created before the Christian Era in the drawing up process of the first Greek translation of the Old Testament (also known as the Septuagint) to depict a Hebraic word denoting a bird of prey. The origin word is akin to Greek pelekas (woodpecker) and to pelekys (some sort of axe) - probably because of the bill's shape.

The egret as well as all the pelicans in Romania are protected by the law as nature's monuments.

We are grateful to Mr. Adrian Popovici that sent us pictures of these silver coins.