2009 PALLADIUM ISLE OF MAN NGC PROOF 69 ULTRA CAMEO "BERLIN WALL" ONLY 200 MINTED

ISLE OF MAN - SELF GOVERNING BRITISH CROWN DEPENDENCY

20th ANNIVERSARY OF THE BERLIN WALL

ONE-OUNCE PALLADIUM ONE CROWN COIN CERTIFIED BY NGC PROOF 69 ULTRA CAMEO

OBV: ELIZABETH II CROWNED BUST RIGHT, LEGEND SEPARATED BY MANX TRISKELS.

REV: TOP OF THE BRANDENBURG GATE WITH QUADRIGA STATUE (ROMAN FOUR HORSE CHARIOT DRIVEN BY WINGED VICTORY HOLDING A STANDARD) AND THE MOST ICONIC OF THE EIGHT GATES THAT WERE USED TO CROSS THE BERLIN WALL; A PIECE OF BARBED WIRE TRANFORMING LEFT TO RIGHT INTO A BOUQUET OF ROSES IS AT THE BASE; ENCIRCLING LEGEND "TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL" WITH DENOMINATION BOTTOM.

THE BERLIN WALL (GER: BERLINER MAUER) WAS BEGUN IN 1961 BY THE GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC (COMMUNIST EAST GERMANY). IT WAS INTENDED TO BE A BARRIER TO COMPLETELY ENCIRCLE AND CUT OFF WEST BERLIN (1949-1990) FROM EAST BERLIN AND  FROM THE REST OF EAST GERMANY.

BERLIN, WHICH HAD BEEN THE CAPITAL OF THE THIRD REICH, HAD BEEN OCCUPIED AND DIVIDED BY THE ALLIES AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR. THE WESTERN SECTOR WAS ADMINISTERED BY THE FRENCH, BRITISH AND U.S. ALLIES AND THE EAST SECTOR ADMINISTERED BY THE SOVIET UNION AND USED AS THE CAPITAL OF THE GDR.

BY BUILDING THE WALL THE SOVIETS AND THEIR EASTERN BLOC ALLIES WOULD PREVENT MASS MIGRATIONS OF DEFECTORS AND EMMIGRANTS TO THE FREE WEST. THE SOVIETS CLAIMED IT WAS AN "ANTI-FASCIST PROTECTION RAMPART" TO PROTECT "THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE" FROM BEING IMPEDED IN ESTABLISHING A SOCIALIST STATE IN EAST GERMANY. THE WALL INSTEAD BECAME A SYMBOL OF OPPRESSION AND THE FIGHT FOR FREEDOM IN THE EAST.

THE WALL WAS ORIGINALLY CHAIN FENCE, BUT THIS WAS REPLACED WITH CONCRETE WALLS TOPPED WITH BARBED WIRE, ANTI-VEHICLE TRENCHES ALONG WHAT WAS CALLED "THE DEATH STRIP", AND GUARD TOWERS AND BUNKERS PLACED AT INTERVALS FOR CLEAR FIELDS OF MACHINE GUN FIRE. WEST BERLIN'S FAMOUS MAYOR, WILLY BRANDT, EXCLAIMED THE BERLIN WALL TO BE THE "WALL OF SHAME". IT BECAME A SYMBOL OF THE "COLD WAR" AND "THE IRON CURTAIN".

FROM 1961-1989, THERE WERE OVER 5,000 ATTEMPTS TO CROSS THE WALL TO ESCAPE THE EAST, WITH OVER 200 PEOPLE LOSING THEIR LIVES.

DURING HIS SPEACH IN WEST BERLIN IN 1987, U.S. PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN CHALLENGED SOVIET LEADER MIKAIL GORBACHEV TO BETTER EAST-WEST RELATIONS WHEN HE SAID, "MR. GORBACHEV, TEAR DOWN THIS WALL!"

IN 1989, ACCOMPANYING LIBERAL CHANGES IN THE SOVIET AND EASTERN BLOC NATIONS, THE EROSION OF PRO-SOVIET POWER STRUCTURES IN EASTERN EUROPE, MASS CIVIL UNREST, AND A CHANGE OF LEADERSHIP IN EAST GERMANY, THE GDR ANNOUNCED THAT EAST GEMANS, AND EAST BERLINERS IN PARTICULAR, COULD VISIT THE WEST. TENS OF THOUSANDS MOBBED THE CHECKPOINTS AND THE GUARDS YIELDED AND OPENED THE BARRIERS.

SOON AFTER, PEOPLE CAME TO THE WALL WITH SLEDGEHAMMERS, AND THE DEMOLITION HAD BEGUN. MOST OF THE EARLY DAMAGE WAS DONE BY SOUVENIER HUNTERS, AND LARGE SECTIONS OF THE WALL CAME DOWN. OFFICIAL AND FINAL DISMANTLING LASTED FROM 1990-1991.

THE FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL WAS THE FIRST STEP TO GERMAN REUNIFICATION, WHICH OCCURRED IN OCTOBER 1990.

CONTAINS 31.103 GRAMS OF .999 PURE PALLADIUM (1.0 OZ APW)

32.7 MM IN DIAMETER

ONLY 200 MINTED!

POBJOY MINT

ACTUAL PIECE OF THE BERLIN WALL: COIN/PIECE OF WALL ACCOMPANIED BY A MODERN, ULTRA SLEEK, SQUARE, FOLDING PRESENTATION BOX WITH CLEAR RUBBER VIEWING PORT AND CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY.