DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
CENTENARY OF THE DISCOVER OF THE REMAINS OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS COMMEMORATIVE
PLATINUM 200 PESOS CERTIFIED BY NGC PROOF 69 ULTRA CAMEO
THIS PIECE IS THE ONLY 1 CERTIFIED, FINEST KNOWN EXAMPLE
EXTREMELY RARE, ONLY 5-10 MINTED!
OBV: NATIONAL ARMS WITHIN SPRAYS; DATE AND FINENESS BENEATH.
REV: UPPER LEFT A CAMEO MEDALION WITH FACING PORTRAIT BUST OF COLUMBUS, WREATHED ANNIVERSARY DATES (1877-1977) BENEATH; ORNATE TOMB MONUMENT OF COLUMBUS IN THE COLUMBUS LIGHTHOUSE IN SANTO DOMINGO; DENOMINATION AT BOTTOM FLANKED BY ANCHORS.
KM-X#2d
IN 1877 A HEAVY LEAD BOX WITH THE INSCRIPTION “DON CRISTOBOL COLON” WAS FOUND BY WORKERS IN SANTO DOMINGO CATHEDRAL. INSIDE WERE HUMAN REMAINS.
WHEN COLUMBUS DIED IN SPAIN IN 1506, HIS REMAINS WERE TRANFERRED BY WILL OF HIS SON TO SANTO DOMINGO. WHEN FRANCE CONQUERED THE ISLAND OF HISPANIOLA IN 1795, THE REMAINS WERE AGAIN MOVED, THIS TIME TO HAVANA, CUBA. FOLLOWING THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR IN 1898, THE REMAINS WERE SENT TO THE CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE IN SPAIN.
MANY CONTENDED THAT THE WRONG REMAINS HAD BEEN SENT TO SPAIN, AND THE REAL ONES WERE IN THE LEAD BOX. CONSEQUENTLY, THE MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR COLUMBUS LIGHTHOUSE MONUMENT WAS BUILT IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC TO HOUSE THE PURPORTED TRUE REMAINS OF THE FAMED EXPLORER AND EUROPEAN DISCOVERER OF HISPANIOLA. SUBSEQUENT ANTHROPOLOGIC AND HISTORICAL RESEARCH AND ANALASYES, AND DNA TESTING, HAVE CONCLUDED THAT THE REMAINS IN SEVILLE, SPAIN BELONG TO CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. SINCE THE GOVERNMENT IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC HAVE NOT ALLOWED EXHUMATION AND TESTING OF THE CORPSE IN SANTO DOMINGO, THERE IS NO AVAILABLE CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE THAT THE REMAINS INTERRED THERE MIGHT ALSO PARTIALLY BELONG TO COLUMBUS.
CONTAINS 31.1 GRAMS OF .900 PLATINUM (0.8999 OZ APW)
37 MM IN DIAMETER
THIS PIECE IS THE ONLY 1 CERTIFIED, FINEST KNOWN EXAMPLE
EXTREMELY RARE, ONLY 5-10 MINTED!
