Scottish pine marten allegedly misses out on its big chance of fame on Croatia euro coin – Scotsman comment

Somewhere in Scotland, an unfeasibly old pine marten may be heartbroken after apparently missing out on their one big chance of fame.

The design for a Croatian euro coin and Iain Leach's photograph (Picture: Iain Leach/SWNS)

They weren’t going to star in a movie, a soap opera or tread the boards of the stage. No, this would have been bigger than that.

For an image of this particular pine marten – allegedly, probably, possibly – would have been seen by millions of people all over Croatia if only things had turned out differently.

Instead, a prospective Croatian euro coin, featuring what looked quite a lot like the Scottish mustelid, has now been withdrawn amid claims it was based on a picture taken by Scottish photographer Iain Leach without his permission.

The person who submitted the image to a competition to design the coin has withdrawn it and also handed back a prize of nearly 10,000 euros.

There is a glimmer of hope with Leach, who has had his work published in National Geographic, saying he would be “pleased” to see his pine marten picture used on the coin and, in a departure from what seems to be modern practice, adding: “I am not going to sue anybody.”

However, it may be that Croatia would prefer to use one of its own pine martens.

After all, the name of its currency, the kuna, which is being replaced by the euro, is actually the Croatian word for a marten, stemming from the use of its pelt as a form of currency in medieval times.

So perhaps that venerable Scottish pine marten is better off out of it.

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