Description: For sale is this rare 1999 $5 commemorative silver coin from the Republic of Kiribati. 0.925 Silver composition with a weight of 31.4g and a diameter of 38.6mm. The edge is reeded. Good condition, see photos. The obverse shows the Kiribati coat of arms with the words "Te mauri, te raoi ao te tabomoa". This is the I-Kiribati crown and translated to English is "Health, peace and prosperity".The reverse shows the French ship "Coquille" which was sailed by Captain Louis Duperrey when he first sighted the island in 1824. This coin was minted in commemoration of 175 years since that first sighting by a European. There has been some debate as to whether or not Duperrey was the first European to sight Marakei. The historian Andrew Sharp believed that the island was one of those visited by Captain Hernando de Grijalva in 1537, but most people agree nowadays with the noted Pacific anthropologist, historian and former commissioner in the Gilbert Islands, Henry (Harry) Maude that Grijalva did not sight Marakei and that Duperrey's claim is valid. Regardless of which view is correct, whenever the island was first seen it was already inhabited by the native I-Kiribati people so neither could claim to have truly discovered the atoll!
Price: 49 AUD
Location: Proserpine, QLD
End Time: 2024-12-08T06:32:32.000Z
Shipping Cost: 13.49 AUD
Product Images
Item Specifics
Returns Accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
Composition: Silver
Year: 1999
Era: 1990s
Fineness: 0.925
Strike Type: Proof
Region of Origin: Pacific Islands & Oceania
Colour: silver
