Every year since 1988 the Pobjoy Mint has given the Isle of Man cat series a new breed, and for 1994 the choice fell on the Japanese Bobtail. This example is struck in gold at 1/20 ounce with a proof finish.

The short, kinked tail with its pom-pom look is not docked: it comes from a dominant gene, and no two tails are exactly alike. Cats are thought to have reached Japan around the sixth century, and bobtails have appeared for centuries in Japanese scrolls, prints and carvings. The tricolour mi-ke pattern is considered the luckiest coat of all.

The breed is also the model for the maneki-neko, the beckoning cat with a raised paw that Japanese shops and homes keep as a good-luck charm. The first Japanese Bobtails were imported to the United States in 1968, so by the time of this coin the breed was already known well beyond Japan.