4000 Shillings Zheng He: Junk

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.