Gold Coin 5 Oz Discovery of the New World - Leif Eriksson 2020 Pearl Proof

5 Oz Gold Coin with Pearl - Discovery of the New World

The inner pearl in blue hue, set into the coin, depicts on its reverse a Viking ship conquering the waves of the ocean. In the foreground on the left is the likeness of the legendary Viking and at the top is his name "LEIF ERIKSSON". Parts of the image also transition into the outer ring of the coin, which bears the inscription "DISCOVERY OF THE NEW WORLD" and the year of issue "2020".
The first European to reach the shores of North America was the Viking explorer Leif Eriksson. This was approximately 1,000 years ago, 500 years before the voyage of Christopher Columbus.
Leif Eriksson was originally Norwegian, but was born around 970 in Iceland and subsequently grew up in Greenland. He was exiled to Greenland from the Icelandic colony with his entire family for his father's crimes. This was Erik the Red, who thus became the discoverer and first settler of Greenland. Leif was raised as a traditional Viking, to love the sea and knowledge of navigation.
In adulthood, while visiting Norway, he embraced Christianity. On the authority of King Olaf I. Tryggvason set out to spread the new faith to other Viking settlers. The description of his subsequent voyage is not entirely clear from various sources. The fact is that he reached the coasts of the North American continent. He called the newly discovered land, after the wild grapes abundant in the area, Vinland. According to some sources, he visited two other places before Vinland, which he named Helluland (Baffin Island) and Markland (Labrador Peninsula).
In the centuries that followed, many scholars looked for evidence of Eriksson's landing, which was recorded in the Icelandic sagas. In the 1960s, a Viking settlement dating to the 11th century was found in the northernmost part of Newfoundland (L'Anse aux Meadows). This settlement matches the description of the place where Leif is said to have spent the winter before returning to Greenland.

The obverse shows a traditional portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by Ian-Rank Broadley and the inscriptions 'ELIZABETH II', 'SOLOMON ISLANDS' and the face value.

The coin comes in a deluxe gift box along with a numbered certificate of authenticity in an extremely limited edition of only 25 pieces for the entire world!

Mother of Pearl Series
Coins in this series go through a lengthy and sophisticated production process. The mother-of-pearl is extracted from the shells of the world's largest pearlfish (sea pearl) - Pinctada Maxima, which grow up to 30 cm in diameter. The oysters are farmed on pearl farms in perfectly isolated areas of the oceans off the coasts of Australia, Tahiti, Fiji, Indonesia and the Philippines. Their shells have a very thick inner shell made up of pearl. It takes up to 12 weeks to select the most beautiful pearl shells for the Mother of Pearl series. They are then shaped to the desired form and ultrasonic waves are used to create a motif that is worked out in minute detail. To achieve the individual colouring, the pearl is soaked in a bath with the appropriate colour for a further 5 weeks. The mother-of-pearl core is then inserted into the coin using a special technical process.

This product is part of the following product sets: