It was September 25, 1513, Vasco Núñez de Balboa stood atop a mountain range near the Chucunaque river in present day Panama. From the summit he was the first European to set eyes on the South Sea, what we now know as the Pacific Ocean. It had been an arduous journey with multiples battles against indigenous tribes leaving many of his men wounded, but he had accomplished his goal to find the South Sea and claiming his spot in the history books.
Balboa is not only remembered for that accomplishment, but also for conquering most of present day Panama. As a conquistador he was after land, gold and treasures in the name of the Spanish king. In this pursuit he was extremely effective and successful. This is what the history books say, because the victor always writes the history. However many of the indigenous people were wiped out, taken as slaves, or forced to accept Christianity at the point of a sword. Not to mention their gold and treasures were plundered. Two sides to every story...
However it wouldn't be long before karma caught up to Balboa when one of his rival conquistadors captured and executed him. The life of being a Spanish conquistador wasn't glamorous or even a very safe occupation. In the end Panama honored Balboa by naming their currency after him.
This is another coin I picked up when I travelled to Panama, it's a nice silver proof coin.
About the coin:
Denomination: One Balboa
Country: Panama
Composition: 92.5% silver
Weight: 26.73 grams
Diameter: 38.1 mm
Edge: Reeded
Mint: The Franklin Mint, Pennsylvania, US
Mintage: 14,000
Obverse: National coat of arms with lettering: REPUBLICA DE PANAMA
PRO MUNDI BENEFICIO LEY 0.925 FM1 BALBOA (Republic of Panama, for the benefit of the world, Law 0.925, mint mark FM, 1 Balboa
Reverse: Balboa with his name and date of minting
This is probably my favorite one I picked up in Panama, it has the nice proof finish and it's sterling silver. It does have some toning on the reverse likely from being in the high humidity of Panama for many years. I love collecting Central and South American coins, and it's one of very few I have from Panama. I rarely seem to find good prices on Panamanian coins over the last few years. This is a great coin for numismatics (coin collecting) but not for stacking because premiums on these are high.
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References:
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces23892.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasco_N%C3%BA%C3%B1ez_de_Balboa
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Now for the winner of the re-blog lottery! Today we had 27 people re-blog my post, thank you so much! You guy are the best! The people who re-blogged were:
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Good luck to everyone!
And the Wheel of Names results:
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I just sent over the funds for your 3 HSBI units!
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