Monday, 30 April 2018

710) Jaguar - "Wildlife of Nicaragua" Coin Series: A 100 Cordobas Silver Proof Coin issued by the Banco Central de Nicaragua in 2018, minted by the New Zealand Mint:

710) Jaguar - "Wildlife of Nicaragua" Coin Series: A 100 Cordobas Silver Proof Coin issued by the Banco Central de Nicaragua in 2018, minted by the New Zealand Mint:

Nicaragua, set between the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean sea is a Central American country known for its dramatic terrain of lakes, volcanoes and beaches. To its North are El Salvador and Honduras, while to Nicaragua's  South is Granada noted for its Spanish colonial architecture and  Costa Rica.  The vast Lake Managua and the iconic strato-volcano Momotombo are located North of the Nicaraguan capital Managua. The Cordoba is its currency (C$).

 The Banco Central de Nicaragua has issued its first coin in a new Series which highlights the Central American country's wildlife that is both prevalent and in many cases unique to the country or the region. The distribution of Jaguars is predominantly in South-western USA, Mexico, Central and South America to Northern Argentina.

The first coin in the "Wildlife of Nicaragua" Coin Series depicts the elusive Jaguar, a stealthy hunter and creature of immense beauty.

About the Jaguar:

The Jaguar is the largest wild cat to be found in Nicaragua and is also indigenous not only to Nicaragua, but also is the only extant member of the genus "Panthera" native to the Americas and is the only big cat in the Americas. It is smaller in length to the cougar, but is much bulkier and heavier.

Jaguars are usually a tawny yellow, with dark rings but they can also be black.

Being the largest cat species in the Americas, it is also the third-largest in the world after the tiger and the lion.

This spotted cat closely resembles the leopard but is usually larger and sturdier, preferring habitat that is tropical and sub-tropical with moist broadleaf forests, swamps and wooded regions. Jaguars prefer to live in areas with plenty of water for at least part of the year, although they will stray onto grasslands and into deserts in search of food.

They live alone, taking refuge in secluded spots during the day and stalking prey at night. Despite being expert climbers, they hunt on the ground and drag their kills to hideaways before devouring them. Their food consists primarily of Capybaras, Peccaries, caimans and tapirs.

Female Jaguars defend smaller territories than males and a male's territory may overlap those of two or three females. The cats advertise their presence by scenting landmarks with urine or faeces and by scraping marks on tree-trunks and rocks. When a female is ready to breed, she will leave her home range and be courted by outside males. Litters of 1-2 cubs are born every 2-3 years.

With a similar liking to water as tigers, Jaguars enjoy swimming and are, for the most part, a largely solitary, opportunistic, stalk-and-ambush predator at the top of the food chain. As such, it plays an important role in stabilising eco-systems and regulating prey populations.

Its distinctive "rosettes" on its coat provides an excellent camouflage for hunting and hiding in dense forests. With its short, stocky, limb structure, this makes it well adapted to climbing, crawling and swimming - perfect for stalking and ambushing prey.

The life span of Jaguars is about 22 years.

The Coin:

                    The Reverse of the 100 Cordobas Silver Coin

The Reverse design combines the spotted Jaguar amongst a detailed engraving of its natural forest habitat. On the upper periphery is mentioned "JAGUAR" and on the lower periphery the denomination of the coin "100 CORDOBAS".

                   The Obverse of the 100 Cordobas Silver coin

The Obverse of the coin shows the Coat of Arms/Crest/Emblem of Nicaragua in the centre, below which is the year of issue "2018". The inscriptions are "REPUBLICA DE NICARAGUA" (on the upper periphery) and "AMERICA CENTRAL" (on the lower periphery).

 The Emblem/Crest of Nicaragua:

 The present Nicaraguan Emblem was adopted in 1971 and features a triangle encircled by the words in gold colour "REPUBLICA DE NICARAGUA" on the top and "AMERICA CENTRAL" on the bottom.

 The Equilateral triangle stands for EQUALITY.

 The Rainbow in the centre stands for PEACE.

 The Phrygian Cap ("Gorro Frigio") in the middle signifies FREEDOM.

The five volcanoes represent the UNION and the FRATERNITY between the five Central American countries.
The specifications of this coin are:

Coin Denomination: C$100 (100 Cordobas); Metal Composition: .999 Fine Silver (Ag); Diameter/Size: 40.0 mm; Weight: 31.10 grams or 1 Troy Oz; Diameter/Size: 40.0 mm; Coin Quality: Proof with applied colour; Country of Issue: Nicaragua; Mint: New Zealand Mint; Mintage: 5,000 pieces; Edge: Milled; Year of issue: 2018.

The custom-made wooden box in which the encapsulated coin is housed
The wooden Box displays the Nicaraguan Crest/Emblem on the lid of the box


The outer box displays the Jaguar Coin design and complements Nicaragua's wildlife theme for this Coin Series 






Links to some other interesting posts from South American countries & Mexico:




4) Dios de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) themed Round issues: 31.10 2017

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Sunday, 29 April 2018

709) The legend of William Tell of Switzerland: The Swiss Federal Mint has issued a 50 Francs gold coin on 26.04.2018 which honours Tell, one of Switzerland's greatest heroes and a symbol of resistance against tyranny:

709) The legend of William Tell of Switzerland: The Swiss Federal Mint has issued a 50 Francs gold coin on 26.04.2018 which honours Tell, one of Switzerland's greatest heroes and a symbol of resistance against tyranny:

 Links to posts on the "Flora Alpina" Series and other interesting posts from Switzerland on Coins and Banknotes:





The Swiss Federal Mint has issued a 50 Francs Gold Coin on 26.04.2018, honouring one of the country's greatest iconic personalities, whose legendary name has become synonymous with Switzerland and that of the struggle for political and individual freedom.
The Reverse of the 50 Francs Gold coin against the background of a painting depicting William Tell and his son being arrested by Gessler's men

 Sources of the Legend of William Tell:

The legend of William Tell was mentioned for the first time in the "White Book of Sarnen" (German "Weisses Buch von Sarnen"), which is a "Chartulary" or "Cartulary" written by the civic recorder Hans Schriber from Obwalden around 1474 (a cartulary is a collection of charters or records, particularly relating to an estate or monastery or any other place where records are kept. It is derived from the Medieval Latin "Cartularium" which in turn comes from the Latin term "Chartula" meaning "Charta" paper).
An open page from the "White Book of Sarnen" where the mention of William Tell is made

The story of William Tell crops up at the time of the Burgundian Wars in the Song about the origin of the Confederation, where William Tell is called the "first Confederate" (Song of Tell - 1477). 

In 1507, his story was recorded in the Chronicle of the City of Lucerne by Melchoir Russ and Petermann Etterlin and printed for the first time.

Between 1508 and 1516, Tell's story also found its way into the Swiss chronicles written by Heinrich Brennwald of Zurich.

Around 1570, the chronicler Aegidius Tschudi condensed the various handed down oral and written versions of William Tell's narrative into a saga which he dated back to 1307.

The popular theatre performances in Central Switzerland also helped spread the William Tell legend.

In 1804, the dramatization of the Tell legend by Friedrich Schiller made the story well known first in Europe and then around the globe.

Schiller drew extensively on the chronicle of Aegidius Tschudi and his play later became the basis for the great opera "Guillaume Tell" by Gioachino Rossini.

 Earlier depictions showed Tell in different costumes depending on the spirit of the time. Tell is also characterised in a herdsman's cowl, with a beard, which influenced the Tell monument by the sculptor Richar Kissling in 1895 in Altdorf and by the famous Tell painting by Ferdinand Hodler (1897).

About the legend of William Tell:
The Front Cover of the Classics Illustrated Comic No. 101 from my personal library. My mother had bought this comic for me when I was studying in Class II in 1966


William Tell was a folk hero in Switzerland. He was a peasant from the town of Burglen in the Canton of Uri, who lived during the 13th and early 14th Centuries. 

His legend particularly  relates to the period of the rule of Albert of Habsburg when the Swiss Confederacy was gaining military and political influence.



William Tell became a symbol of resistance against aristocratic rule, particularly in the Revolutions of 1848 against a House of Hapsburg which still ruled Austria - five hundred years later.



During the formative stage of modern Switzerland in the 19th Century, known as the period of Restoration and Regeneration Tell was again a symbolic hero, inspiring the Swiss to greater Freedom and Independence.

According to the legend, William Tell was a strong man, a mountain climber and an expert marksman with the crossbow. The House of Habsburg emperors of Austria were seeking to dominate the Canton of Uri, Tell's village and Tell became one of the conspirators of Werner Stauffacher who vowed to resist Habsburg domination.

Albrecht Gessler was the newly appointed Austrian Vogt of Altdorf, Switzerland. He raised a pole under the village linden tree, hung his hat on top of it and demanded that all the townsfolk bow before it, every time they passed it.

On 18.11.1307, Tell visited  Altdorf with his young son Robert. He passed the hat, but publicly refused to bow to it and was consequently arrested.

Gessler was intrigued by Tell's famed marksmanship with a cross-bow and resentful of Tell's defiance, devised a cruel punishment. Tell and his son were both the be executed, but Tell was given the chance to redeem his life by shooting an apple off the head of Robert in a single attempt. Tell split the apple with a bolt from his crossbow, much to the amazement of the crowd of onlookers.

Gessler noticed that Tell had removed two crossbow bolts from his quiver and asked Tell the reason therefor. Tell was reluctant to answer, but Gessler promised that he would not kill him. Tell answered that had he killed his son, he would have killed Gessler with the second bolt. Hearing this, Gessler was furious and ordered Tell to be bound, saying that as he had promised to spare Tell's life,  he would not kill him, but imprison him for the remainder of his life.

The legend further goes that a shackled Tell was being carried in Gessler's boat to the dungeon in the castle at Kussnacht when a storm broke on Lake Lucerne and the guards in the boat were afraid that the boat would sink. They begged Gessler to remove Tell's shackles so that he could take the helm of the boat and save them. Gessler gave in, but Tell steered the boat to a rocky place and leapt out. The site is known in the "White Book" as the "Tellsplatte" (or "Tell's Slab" and has been marked by a memorial chapel since the 16th Century).

Tell ran cross-country to Kussnacht with Gessler in pursuit. Tell found a vantage ambush point and assassinated Gessler using the second crossbow bolt, along a stretch of the road cut through rock between Immensee and Kussnacht, which is known as the "Hohle Gasse".

The aftermath:

Tell's act sparked an uprising, which led to the formation of the Old Swiss Confederacy.

Tell fought again against Austria in the 1315 Battle of Morgarten, in which the Old Swiss Confederacy consisting mainly of about 1500 irregular soldiers of the Canton of Uri decisively defeated a Hapsburg Force of about 5,000 trained knights, killing around 2,000 of them, with few casualties on their side.

Tell was killed in 1354 when he was trying to save a child from drowning in the Schachental River in Uri.

The Tell legend has been compared to several such legends in other traditions:

In Norse Mythology, there is the mention of a magical marksman coming to the aid of a suppressed people under the sway of a tyrant. This outlaw successfully shoots an apple placed on his child's head. This is mentioned in the story of Egil in the Thidreks saga (associated with the God Ullr in Eddaic tradition.

Similar stories are found in English (Adam Bell) and Danish (Palnatoki) traditions. 

Throughout the 19th Century and even during World War II, Tell was perceived as a symbol of resistance against tyranny both in Switzerland and in Europe.

The commemorative Gold Coin of 50 Francs honouring William Tell:

The Reverse of the 50 Francs Gold Coin shows a design inspired by the painting of Ferdinand Hodler (made in 1897). It shows William Tell holding his crossbow in his left hand. At left is the inscription "WILHELM TELL".


The Obverse of the 50 Francs Gold Coin shows the standard design with the issuing authority's name "CONFEDERATIO HELVETICA", the year of issue "2018" and the denomination of the coin "50 FR" in a circular pattern.

The specifications of this coin are:

Date of issue: 26.04.2018; Denomination: 50 Swiss Francs; Metal Composition: .900 Gold (Au); Diameter/Size: 25.0 mm; Weight: 11.29 grams; Designer: Angelo Boog; Coin Quality: Proof; Certificate of Authenticity (COA): The coin comes with the artist's certificate; Mintage: 250 pieces.

 The coin is encapsulated in a presentation case along with  a numbered Certificate of Authenticity (COA).








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