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4000 Shillings Zheng He: Junk
| Issuer | Central Bank of Somalia |
|---|---|
| Year | 2005 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Milled, Colored |
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| Reverse description | A large Chinese treasure junk under full sail dominates the field, depicted in vivid applied color with multiple red battened sails billowing against a blue sky with warm golden sunset hues. The vessel is shown in profile sailing on a calm sea, with detailed rendering of the hull, rigging, and pennants. The legend ZHENG HE appears in Latin script at the upper left, accompanied by the Chinese characters 鄭和 at the upper right. The date 2005 is inscribed in the lower exergue on an uncolored silver band. |
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| Reverse lettering | ZHENG HE 鄭和 2005 |
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| Additional information |
Somalia's Central Bank issued this piece under a licensing arrangement common to the early 2000s commemorative market, where the Somali government — then effectively a collapsed state with no functioning central authority — lent its issuing name to coins produced entirely for foreign collector distribution. The subject, Zheng He's treasure fleet, was chosen to coincide with the 600th anniversary of his first voyage, a date that generated commemorative issues across dozens of jurisdictions in 2005.
Zheng He commanded vessels that dwarfed contemporary European ships, with the largest treasure junks estimated at over 400 feet in length — figures still debated by maritime historians.