REPUBLIC OF PALAU (BELAU)
INTERNATIONAL COIN SERIES - SHIP // IMPERIAL SEA BATALLION EAGLE- GERMAN COLONY OF KIAUTSCHOU BAY - 100th ANNIVERSARY OF GERMANY ACQUIRING PALAU FROM SPAIN
EXTREMELY RARE PALLADIUM COIN - ONLY 7 COINS MINTED!
CERTIFIED BY NGC PROOF 67 ULTRA CAMEO
OBV: SCENE OF A EUROPEAN SHIP AT HARBOR, A CHINESE JUNK AFT FOREGROUND; DENOMINATION BELOW.
REV: GERMAN IMPERIAL EAGLE DISPLAYED WITH LARGE CROWNED ANCHOR BEHIND (THE SYMBOL USED ON THE HELMETS OF IMPERIAL SEA BATTALION NAVAL INFANTRY UNITS); CHINESE CHARACTERS FLANKING.
THE REVERSE IMAGE OF THIS COIN IS BASED ON THE OBVERSE OF GERMAN KIAUTSCHOU BAY CONCESSION COLONIAL COINAGE: KIAU CHAU - 5 CENTS (1909 KM # 1), 10 CENTS (1909 KM # 2).
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 AMONG 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).
IN CHINA IN 1897, GERMANY EXPLOITED THE MURDER OF TWO GERMAN CATHOLIC PRIESTS, AND SENT A NAVAL SQUADRON AND A FORCE OF MARINES TO TAKE AND HOLD JIAOZHOU (KIAUTSCHOU) BAY. THE GERMAN NAVY HAD BEEN SIZING UP THE LOCATION AS A POSSIBLE BASE FOR SOME TIME, AND THE AREA CAPITULATED WITHIN A COUPLE OF HOURS. THE GERMANS REINFORCED THEIR POSITION TO MAKE THEIR PRESENCE IMPOSSIBLE FOR THE CHINESE TO DISLODGE. NEGOTIATIONS BEGAN WITH THE IMPERIAL CHINESE GOVERNMENT IN 1898, AND GERMANY ACCEPTED A 99 YEAR LEASE ON THE BAY, 552 SQUARE KILOMETERS OF LAND AND THE ADMINISTRATIVE CENTER OF TSINGTAU (QINGDAO). SINCE THE GERMAN NAVY HAD BEEN INSTRUMENTAL IN THE ACQUISITION OF KIAUTSCHOU, THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE COLONY WAS GIVEN TO THE NAVY AND NOT TO THE IMPERIAL COLONIAL OFFICE. THE GERMANS TURNED THE IMPOVERISHED FISHING VILLAGE OF TSINGTAO INTO A MODERN TOWN. WIDE STREETS WERE LAID OUT WITH COMFORTABLE HOUSING WITH ELECTRICITY, CLEAN WATER SUPPLY AND SEWERS (UNHEARD OF IN MOST OF ASIA AT THE TIME). GOVERNMENT AND MISSIONARY SCHOOLS WERE FUNDED FOR THE INHABITANTS, A RAILWAY CONNECTION TO THE TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY CONNECTED THE COLONY TO BERLIN OVERLAND, AND GERMAN BANKS HELPED ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. IT WAS A SAFE, ORDERLY AND PROGRESSIVE ENCLAVE, AND AFTER THE CHINESE REVOLUTION MANY WEALTHY CHINESE MADE TSINGTAO THEIR HAVEN. SUN YAT-SEN VISITED IN 1912 AND SAID, "...I AM IMPRESSED. THIS CITY IS A TRUE MODEL FOR CHINA'S FUTURE."
AT THE ONSET OF WWI, THE CHINESE REPUBLIC REVOKED THE LEASE AND THE JAPANESE OCCUPIED THE COLONY AFTER A MILITARY SIEGE.
CONTAINS 31.1 GRAMS OF .9995 FINE PALLADIUM (1.0 OZ APW)
38 MM IN DIAMETER
EXTREMELY RARE ONLY 7 MINTED!
