- Second coin in new 2022-dated six-coin series featuring popular ships
- Available as a shaped $1 coin produced in Virenium
- Very low issue limit of 1,950
- Collector’s album to store the set also available
After the incredible reaction to our 2020 and 2021 Tall Ships series, The Pobjoy Mint is thrilled to announce the release of a brand new six-coin series featuring ships connected to the British Virgin Islands. The second coin in this series features Columbus’ famous ship Santa Maria.
Santa Maria, originally nicknamed La Gallega, was the largest of three ships used by Christopher Columbus in 1492 during his first voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, with the other two ships being La Niña and Pinta.
The origin of this ship is often disputed but it is believed to have been built in Spain in the year 1441 before later being rebuilt for use by Christopher Columbus. Santa Maria is assumed to have been a medium-sized carrack, of around 58ft (17.7m) in length on her single deck. Requisitioned by order of Queen Isabella of Spain, her master and owner was Juan de la Cosa, whom Columbus knew previously.
For 35 days in 1492, Columbus and his crew of 86 Spanish sailors sailed westward searching for a passage to China and India. Columbus hadn’t found a western route to India, of course, but his success in crossing the Atlantic was due in large part to the ships he chose for the perilous voyage.
Columbus’ ships were an improved type of caravel known as the caravela redonda, a three-masted ship where the first two masts were rigged with conventional square sails for open-ocean speed and a third was rigged with a lateen sail for coastal maneuverability. That rigging combination made his ships some of the best sailing vessels of their time.
Details regarding the end of Santa Maria were written In Columbus’ journal, as well as his son Ferdinand’s Life of Columbus, yet the two often differ. In Columbus’ journal, on Christmas Day in 1492, the ship ran aground of the northern coast of Haiti, with records of the location of the wreck being noted in his journal. Many researchers have attempted to figure out how these descriptions and current maps align with the coastline, in a bid to pin down the exact location of where the ship ended its voyage. However, even today, the exact location remains a mystery.
The design of the coin features Santa Maria with open sails over a body of water and is available in Virenium, a metal developed by The Pobjoy Mint that is light gold in color. This stunning coin will be presented in a Pobjoy Mint presentation pouch, with a special collector’s album to house all coins in this series. The obverse of the coin features an effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II produced exclusively by Pobjoy Mint.
Presentation
The Virenium $1 is presented in a capsule with a special album available separately to house all six coins.
Coin Specifications
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