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1/2 Balboa Discovery of the Pacific Ocean, Silver Proof Issue
| Issuer | Panama |
|---|---|
| Year | 2013 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Round |
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|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | REPUBLICA DE PANAMA MEDIO BALBOA |
| Reverse description | A full-length effigy of the Spanish conquistador Vasco Núñez de Balboa is depicted standing in shallow water, rendered in a heroic pose. He holds aloft a flag in one hand and raises a sword in the other, commemorating his historic sighting of the Pacific Ocean in 1513. A circumferential legend arcs around the upper and lateral periphery of the coin, and the date 2013 is inscribed in the lower exergue area. The design commemorates the quincentennial of the discovery of the Mar del Sur. |
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| Additional information |
Vasco Núñez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Darién in September 1513 and became the first European to sight the Pacific from the Americas — an achievement that reoriented Spanish colonial ambitions entirely, shifting focus from Caribbean raiding to the vast wealth of the Inca empire to the south. Panama has commemorated this moment repeatedly, with good reason: the isthmus itself exists as a political entity largely because that crossing happened there.
The .9999 fineness is unusually pure for a circulation-format denomination struck in this size, suggesting the issue was aimed squarely at the bullion collector market rather than any ceremonial distribution.