Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
3000 Francs Mask of Agamemnon
| Issuer | Cameroon (1960-date) |
|---|---|
| Year | 2021 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 3000 Francs CFA |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse features a large, centrally placed high-relief reproduction of the Mask of Agamemnon — the celebrated Mycenaean funerary death mask discovered at Shaft Grave V in Mycenae — rendered with exceptional sculptural detail and fully covered in selective gold gilding. The bearded male face displays almond-shaped closed eyes, a prominent nose, a stylised moustache, and decorative ear ornaments, all faithfully replicating the original circa 16th-century BC artefact. The mask occupies virtually the entire inner field, surrounded by a broad border simulating ancient cyclopean stonework in antique-finished silver. The legend 'MASK OF AGAMEMNON' is distributed letter by letter around the border within the simulated stone ring. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
The Mask of Agamemnon was excavated at Mycenae in 1876 by Heinrich Schliemann, who famously — and almost certainly incorrectly — declared he had "gazed upon the face of Agamemnon." Modern scholarship places the mask roughly three centuries earlier than any historical Agamemnon could have lived, making Schliemann's telegram to the Greek king one of archaeology's most celebrated misattributions. Cameroon has no geographic or historical connection to the Aegean Bronze Age; this is one of dozens of collectible issues the country licenses annually for the international numismatic market, using its sovereign minting authority as a revenue instrument.