2020 - Niue 2 NZD Silver Coin On Waves - Vasco da Gama - Proof

On Waves

The collector's miniseries called "On Waves" is being closed. Vasco da Gama is the third and last sailor whom the silver coin of the Czech Mint pays tribute to.

Vasco da Gama was born in the family of a Portuguese nobleman. From an early age, he sailed on fishing boats, where he learned great orientation and sea life, and enthusiastically listened to the story of the incredible experiences of Portuguese sailors. His father quickly rose in the hierarchy of the Order of the Knights and provided his son with education that provided him with valuable knowledge of astronomy and mathematics. Vasco also became a knight, and his achievements secured him considerable influence. He lived at a time when Portugal was trying to find a way to India, and he was to become the man who would gain its immense wealth in the form of precious spices. The journey to India was dominated by Arab and Ottoman rulers. The Spaniards let by Christopher Columbus traveled west to India by sea, and unknowingly discovered America. The Portuguese had to go east by sea. Vasco da Gama successfully circumnavigated Africa, which had always stood in the way of the sailors, and crossed the Indian Ocean. When he sailed to India, he quickly realized that his poor homeland had nothing to offer to Asian rulers and traders, so he sailed away. Nevertheless, he became a hero in Portugal - next expeditions were conquering and laid the foundation of a vast colonial empire. The last enclaves in India were not given up by the Portuguese until 1960…

Academic sculptor Michal Vitanovský placed a portrait of a sailor on the reverse side of the coin and supplemented it with the captain's name and life dates. "The portraits depicting Vasco da Gama are mostly from a three-quarter perspective, and I kept this position when designing the reverse side of the coin. The sailor's voyages to India are symbolized by a bird's eye view of three ships whose routes diagonally divide the surface of the coin. Apart from that there is the west coast of Africa with the indicated route of voyage from Lisbon to the Cape of Good Hope, " the author of the relief side says. The coins of the Czech Mint are issued with a license of the island of Niue. Therefore, their obverse side bears the necessary attributes of this issuer – a nominal value of 2 DOLLARS (NZD), the portrait and the name of Queen Elizabeth II. and the year of the issue 2020. The composition of the obverse side, which is common to all coins of the miniseries, was supplemented with a depiction of a sailboat as a symbol of overseas discoveries.

The coin is set in an spectacular packaging that also contains original drawings by Michal Vitanovsky.