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ECU Bartolomeu Dias
| Issuer | Portugal |
|---|---|
| Year | 1994 |
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| Orientation | Medal alignment ↑↑ |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | Central device depicts the classical mythological scene of the Abduction of Europa: the figure of Europa, draped and with one arm raised aloft, is shown astride a bull (Zeus in transformed guise), rendered in high relief against a sunburst of radiating lines that fill the field. The legend ECU arcs prominently across the upper portion of the coin in large, stylized letters. The date 1994 appears in the lower exergual area, flanked by a small mint mark above it. The overall design conveys dynamic movement and reflects the pan-European ECU coinage theme. |
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| Additional information |
Part of Portugal's extensive ECU collector series issued through the 1990s, this piece commemorates Bartolomeu Dias, who in 1488 became the first European to round the Cape of Good Hope — doing so accidentally, after a storm drove his fleet south beyond sight of land. He named it Cabo das Tormentas, Cape of Storms. It was João II who renamed it Cape of Good Hope, recognizing the route's implications for reaching India.
Gold-plated copper-nickel ECU pieces of this type were never legal tender in Portugal and existed solely for the collector market.