1999 PALLADIUM PALAU NGC PROOF 68 ULTRA CAMEO KAISER WILHELM II GERMAN SAMOA ONLY 7 MINTED

REPUBLIC OF PALAU (BELAU)

INTERNATIONAL COIN SERIES - KAISER WILHELM II // GERMAN SAMOA - 100th ANNIVERSARY OF GERMANY ACQUIRING PALAU FROM SPAIN

EXTREMELY RARE PALLADIUM COIN

ONLY 7 COINS MINTED!

CERTIFIED BY NGC PROOF 68 ULTRA CAMEO

OBV: PORTRAIT BUST OF KAISER WILHELM II LEFT AND WEARING THE PARADE HELMET, UNIFORM AND ARMOR OF THE IMPERIAL CUIRASSIER GUARD DU CORPS REGIMENT; DENOMINATION LEFT.

REV: COLONIAL ARMS OF GERMAN SAMOA.

THE OBVERSE OF THIS COIN IS BASED ON IMAGES ON THE GERMAN COLONY/PROTECTORATE OF EAST AFRICA (OSTAFRIKA) COINAGE: GERMAN EAST AFRICA - SILVER: 1/4 RUPIE (1891 & 1898 KM # 3), 1/2 RUPIE (1891 & 1897 KM # 4), RUPIE (1890-1900 KM # 2) AND 2 RUPIEN (1893-1894 KM # 5) - SAME DESIGN AS PALAU SILVER ISSUE KM # 22).

THIS COIN, AND THE OTHERS IN THE SERIES, WERE STRUCK IN COMMEMORATION OF THE ACQUISITION OF PALAU BY THE GERMAN EMPIRE FROM THE SPANISH EMPIRE IN 1899.

 PALAU WAS CLAIMED TO HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED BY THE SPANISH EXPLORER RUY LÓPEZ de VILLALOBOS IN 1543, AND "REDISCOVERED" IN 1710 BY DON FRANCISCO de PADILLA. SPAIN NEVER SETTLED PALAU, BUT REASSERTED ITS CLAIM IN 1874. GERMANY, WHICH HAD EXPANDED ITS COLONIAL EMPIRE INTO THE PACIFIC WITH AN INTEREST IN COMMERCIAL TRADE, ALSO CLAIMED PALAU IN 1885, BUT THE POPE ABRBITRATED AND CONFIRMED SPANISH POSSESSION THE FOLLOWING YEAR. PALAU, WHICH HAD BEEN GROUPED WITH THE CAROLINE ISLANDS, WAS PURCHASED FROM SPAIN, ALONG WITH THE CAROLINES, BY GERMANY BY TREATY IN 1899. GERMANY'S COMMERCIAL INTERESTS IN PALAU RESTED IN COPRA (COCONUT), BAUXITE, PHOSPHATE, TREPANG (SEA CUCUMBER) AND SEA SHELLS.

THE GERMAN COLONIAL ADMINISTRATION OF PALAU (MADE A PART OF GERMAN NEW GUINEA)  WAS DIRECTED TOWARD COMMERCIAL INTEREST AND INSTITUTED SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ORDER AMONGST THE NATIVE POPULACE. MODERNIZATION EFFORTS, SUCH AS BUILDING UP THE INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE FORM OF ROADS, WERE AIMED TO INCREASE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF THE NATIVES PALAUANS.

GERMANY LOST CONTROL OF PALAU WHEN THE JAPANESE (AS A PART OF THE ANGLO-JAPANESE ALLIANCE) SEIZED THE ARCHIPELEGO, AND OTHER GERMAN OVERSEAS TERRITORIES IN THE PACIFIC, AT THE ONSET OF WWI IN 1914.

THE ONLY GERMAN COLONIES TO HAVE PRODUCED AND ISSUED COINAGE WERE NEW GUINEA, KIAUTSCHOU AND GERMAN EAST AFRICA (MINTED FOR THE GERMAN EAST AFRICA COMPANY 1890-1902 AND THE IMPERIAL GOVERNMENT 1904-1914).

GERMAN SAMOA WAS THE LAST COLONY IN THE PACIFIC ACQUIRED BY THE GERMAN EMPIRE. IN THE LATE 19th CENTURY, SAMOA WAS THE SOURCE OF COMPETITION AND CONFLICT BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES, THE UNITED KINGDOM AND GERMANY. COMMERCIAL INTERESTS OF GERMAN TRADERS AND PLANTATION OWNERS, BRITISH BUSINESS ENTERPRISES AND AMERICAN BUSINESS INTERESTS LED TO TWO NATIVE CIVIL WARS IN THE REGION AND A NAVAL STANDOFF BY THE THREE COLONIAL POWERS THAT ENDED WITH A TYPHOON SINKING ALL OF THE SHIPS INVOLVED EXCEPT FOR ONE BRITISH CRUISER. A TREATY CALLED THE SAMOA TRIPARTITE CONVENTION SPLIT THE REGION BETWEEN THE MERCANTILE RIVALS IN 1900. GERMAN SAMOA REMAINED GERMAN TERRITORY UNTIL THE OUTBREAK OF WWI WHEN IT WAS OCCUPIED BY AN EXPEDITIONARY FORCE FROM NEW ZEALAND IN 1914. NEW ZEALAND WAS GIVEN ADMINISTRATION BY THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS IN 1920. 

CONTAINS 31.1 GRAMS OF .9995 FINE PALLADIUM (1.0 OZ APW)

38 MM IN DIAMETER

EXTREMELY RARE ONLY 7 MINTED!