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25 Dollars - Elizabeth II Sea Venture
| Issuer | Bermuda Monetary Authority |
|---|---|
| Year | 1987 |
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| Currency | Dollar (1970-date) |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A finely detailed depiction of the English tall ship Sea Venture under full sail, shown three-quarter view to the left amid choppy seas, flying multiple flags including the Union flag and a cross-patterned ensign at the stern. The legend TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS arcs along the upper left periphery, with SEA VENTURE and the historic date 1609 inscribed to the lower right, and the mint year 1987 featured prominently in the exergue. To the right of the ship, the purity and weight specifications .999 ONE OUNCE PALLADIUM appear in three lines. The reverse commemorates the wreck of the Sea Venture off Bermuda in 1609, which led to the permanent settlement of the islands. |
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| Reverse lettering | TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS .999 ONE OUNCE PALLADIUM SEA VENTURE 1609 1987 |
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| Additional information |
The Sea Venture was the flagship of a nine-vessel fleet dispatched by the Virginia Company in 1609, carrying settlers and supplies to the struggling Jamestown colony. It was deliberately run aground on Bermuda's reefs by Admiral George Somers to prevent sinking in a storm — an act that stranded the survivors on the islands for ten months and, incidentally, gave England its claim to Bermuda. Shakespeare almost certainly drew on the published accounts of the wreck when writing The Tempest.
The palladium issue appeared at an interesting moment: 1987 was still early in the experimental use of palladium for bullion coinage, with the Soviet Union's Palladium Ballerina series having only just launched the same year.