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50 Poe rava Gambier archipelago
| Issuer | French Polynesia › French Polynesia (1957-date) |
|---|---|
| Year | 2015 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | 32 mm |
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| Obverse description | Central field features a detailed relief of a Coconut Crab (Birgus latro) depicted in a naturalistic pose, occupying the majority of the coin's face. The legend ARCHIPEL DES GAMBIER arcs across the upper field in bold raised lettering. The date 2015 appears to the left, below the legend. The denomination 50 POE RAVA is inscribed in large characters across the lower field, with POE RAVA positioned to the right and above the numeral 50. |
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| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
The Gambier archipelago, a remote cluster of volcanic islands at the southeastern edge of French Polynesia, was the site of one of the most aggressive Catholic missionary campaigns in the Pacific — Father Honoré Laval's near-total cultural transformation of the Mangareva population between the 1830s and 1860s, including forced labor to build a cathedral grotesquely oversized for the island's few hundred remaining inhabitants. The *poe rava*, the black pearl cultivated in Mangareva's lagoons, became the archipelago's economic lifeline only in the late twentieth century, when deliberate oyster farming replaced the earlier wild harvest.