Portugal: Bartolomeu Dias / Cape of Good Hope 500th Anniversary |
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| Form: | Circular with wide base allowing medal to stand upright | ||||||||
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| By: | Sousa Machado / Imprensa Nacional - Casa da Moeda | ||||||||
| Date: | 1988 | ||||||||
| Ref: |
Laidlaw: 1217; |
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| Variations: |
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| Edge: |
Plain. Stamped 1313/2500. Thickness at rim 4.9 mm. Thickness of base 12.4 mm - 16.8 mm |
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| Obverse: |
Bust of Dias in high relief wearing hat, half left. Signed on left above shoulder: "S. MARCHADO (anchor)". Maker's monogram: "INCM" on right. Legend on left: "BARTOLOMEU DIAS / 1488" and on right after Cross of of Portugal: "CABO DA BOA ESPERANÇA / 1988". |
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| Reverse: |
Map of the western half of Africa with Portuguese flags and stone cross markers on coast line. Europe above and, to the left, radiant compass with Portuguese cross on eastern ray. Two Caravel flying the Portuguese flag in full sail below. Eastern part of Africa cut off by recessed vertical bar. On the right, upwards, incused in large letters: "ORIENS". |
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| Notes: |
Comes in a padded blue cardboard box marked: "INCM/ LISBOA-PORTUGAL on the outside of the lid. One of a series of medals by Machado on Portuguese navigators and voyages of discovery. Bartolomeu Dias led an expedition in 1488 in an attempt to discover a sea route to India. He was the first European known to have rounded the Cape of Good Hope which he named the Cape of Storms. Oriens is the demon king of the east, one of the four demons overseeing the cardinal directions. Mintage of 2,500. Imprensa Nacional - Casa da Moeda is the Portuguese national mint and printer. |
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