Tuvalu 2010 2011 Henry Morgan Pirates Buccaneers Golden Age Piracy BU in OGP

Description

In Stock and Available for Immediate Shipment!
Long SOLD OUT at the Perth Mint!
Don't walk the plank just yet! This pirate, turned hero, turned knight, turned politician is in full color, but eminently affordable!
Shiver me timbers! The mere mention of the word "pirate" conjures up mental images of scalawags with eye patches, peg legs, hooks, nose rings, earrings, and parrots, shouting, waving cutlasses and the Jolly Roger! The Perth Mint of Australia has done Henry Morgan, the world's most merciless buccaneer, proud. The notorious pirate is depicted in a dramatic portrait (drawn from original source material!) with his ship in the background riding at anchor. The color image depicts a pirate's treasure chest, as well as two barrels (hogsheads) and a bottle of rum. Best of all is the price - most it won't cost you a hostage's ransom to get this affordable, full color dollar!
Sir Henry Morgan
Born around 1635, Henry Morgan was a Welsh privateer who organized daring buccaneer raids along the Spanish Main from his base in Jamaica. His actions gained him the reputation of a barbarous and pitiless pirate who engaged in the use of much cruelty and torture. Following the sacking of Panama, Morgan was arrested and accused of violating the tentative peace with Spain. Yet when he reached London, he was acclaimed as a hero. Pretending he had no knowledge of the treaty, Morgan escaped the hangman's noose and was knighted by King Charles II! He returned to Jamaica as Lieutenant Governor, an unbelievable end to his career!
The Golden Age of Piracy
Pirates were real, and they were merciless, well deserving of their fearsome reputation - Blackbeard once killed a member of his crew for no reason other than to remind the rest that he would and could! The Golden Age of Piracy stretched from roughly 1650 to 1725. Their raiding commenced when Spain began shipping gold, silver and precious gems from her New World colonies to Europe. Galleons laden with treasure from the Spanish Main proved irresistible targets for rogues and outlaws who skulked in Caribbean waters.
Many sailors were lured into their nefarious careers by European governments keen to snare wealth from their richer rivals. Known as privateers, these adventurers were issued "letters of marque" by their monarchs, authorizing them to attack foreign ships in return for a share of the spoils! Under pressure from villainous crews, many privateers slipped easily into the role of greedy pirate, attacking merchant ships irrespective of the flags under which they sailed.
As the volume of shipping increased on the world's sea lanes, so did the chances of capturing pirate treasure. Yet the lives of the men (and a few daring women!) involved in this dangerous world were mainly brutal, drunken and short, as the lives of most of the famous pirates portrayed on these coins testify.
Pirates in Pop Culture
These distinctive scourges of the seven seas have definitely entered into our pop culture, with no fewer than three major league sports teams claiming them as namesakes and mascots - the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League.
Hollywood has capitalized on the swashbuckling pirate for decades. Most recently, Disney scored a huge success with the three
Pirates of the Caribbean
films, which included Johnny Depp doing his best Keith Richard impersonation.
Aargh! Pirates haven't gone away for good yet, either. They're in the news again, though it's still hard for us to believe that a few scrawny Somalis with little more than handguns and row boats are in fact hijacking 1000-foot-long container ships - but they are. However, when you can be defeated by a fire hose's stream, you somehow don't seem like a real pirate, or worthy of the name.
Despite the undeniable popularity of pirates (attested to by the blockbuster showings of the Disney pirate movies), very few coins, medals or tokens have ever been struck with pirates or their ships on them. With this affordable dollar, minted with full color, the good folks at the Perth Mint has gone a long way toward remedying this injustice!
Please see the presentation lower on this page for more information about Tuvalu and its association with Australia.
Technology Note
The Perth Mint of Australia employs its own proprietary colorization technology, in which the color is actually sealed on the coin. The vibrant hues and precise execution of the technology create a stunning, full-color portrait on each coin.
Obverse
The notorious pirate Henry Morgan is depicted in a dramatic portrait (drawn from original source material!) with his ship in the background riding at anchor. The color image depicts a pirate's treasure chest, as well as two barrels (hogsheads) and a bottle of rum. The legend HENRY MORGAN in script denotes the theme. The Perth Mint "P" mint mark can be found at the 9:00 position on the rim.
Reverse
Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, in crowned profile facing right. This portrait, featuring Her Majesty wearing a tiara and pearl drop earrings, was executed by the sculptor Raphael Maklouf. The legend QUEEN ELIZABETH II, the date of issue and denomination also appear.
Packaging
Each coin is encapsulated and sealed inside a full color, lavishly illustrated presentation card depicting a pirate treasure consisting of jewels, gems, coins and pieces of eight, with fold out stand for upright display. The card includes additional information about Henry Morgan and full coin specifications.
Specifications
Country
Tuvalu
Mint
Perth Mint of Australia
Year of Issue
2011
Face Value
One Dollar
Weight
13.80 g
Diameter
30.60 mm
Gauge (Thickness)
3.10 mm
Finish
Brilliant Uncirculated with Color
Composition
Aluminum Bronze
Edge
Reeded (milled, serrated)
Artist
Darryl Bellotti (obverse)
Raphael Maklouf (reverse)
Certificate
Individually Numbered
The Island Nation of Tuvalu
Tuvalu, formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean midway between Hawaii and Australia. Its nearest neighbors are Kiribati, Samoa and Fiji. It is comprised of four reef islands and five true atolls. Its population of 11,992 makes it the third-least populated independent country in the world, with only Vatican City and Nauru having fewer inhabitants. It is also the second-smallest member by population of the United Nations. In terms of physical land size, at just 10 square miles Tuvalu is the fourth smallest country in the world, larger only than the Vatican City, Monaco and Nauru.
The first inhabitants of Tuvalu were Polynesian people, who arrived about 3000 years go. The islands came under Great Britain's sphere of influence in the late 19th century. The Ellice Islands were administered by Britain as part of a protectorate from 1892 to 1916 and as part of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony from 1916 to 1974. In 1974 the Ellice Islanders voted for separate British dependency status as Tuvalu, separating from the Gilbert Islands which became Kiribati upon independence. Tuvalu became fully independent within The Commonwealth in 1978. with Queen Elizabeth II as titular head of state.
Because Tuvalu has few natural resources it has been dependent in recent years upon aid from larger, more developed nations, including Australia, New Zealand and the United States. The Perth Mint of Australia is officially commissioned by the government of Tuvalu to produce legal tender coinage for the island nation.
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