{"product_id":"octw4-kb3112","title":"2021 Barbados $5 Ferdinand Magellan 500th Anniversary 3oz. .999 Silver Coin (No Tax)","description":"2021 Barbados $5 Ferdinand Magellan 500th Anniversary 3oz. .999 Silver Coin with 24-karat Gold Plated Inlay (No Tax)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBorn around 1480, Ferdinand Magellan was coming of age just as global exploration -- and exploitation -- was becoming the priority of most European powers. All eyes were on the Moluccas, or Spice Islands, in modern Indonesia, and everyone was seeking an easy route to and from Europe. Magellan's idea was radical: rather than go east, go west. Of course, to the west of Portugal are the Americas -- but Magellan suspected that a faster, easier route to Asia existed by finding a way through these newly discovered continents. When the King of Portugal rejected him for being ridiculous, Magellan took his idea to the King of Spain -- who gave him a title, a fleet, and a couple hundred men. They set out in 1519, sailing southwest from Spain to South America. There, they crawled along the eastern coast, exploring waterways and searching for a way through. Eventually, they found one at the tip of Chile -- today known, indeed, as the Strait of Magellan. Once they had made it to the far side of the Americas, the sailors expected the difficult part of the journey to be over. Asia, they believed, was just a short three-or-four day journey away. No European had yet seen or experienced the Pacific Ocean. Of course, the three-day crossing turned into nearly four months, and dozens of men perished. It wasn't until 1521 that an exhausted crew finally crawled into Guam, and then into the Philippines. Magellan's interactions with the native populations ranged from peaceful to murderous, and he was eventually killed in battle on the island of Mactan by locals who were not at all amused with his attempts to convert them to Christianity. His crew, reduced to just one of five ships and about 18 of 270 men, limped back to Spain, and in doing so became the first Europeans to circumnavigate the globe.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eInterestingly, Magellan was not celebrated when the tattered remains of his expedition crawled back into Spanish waters. Portugal considered him a traitor, and Spain saw him as a catastrophic failure. The 18 men who survived did not have much nice to say about him. Eventually, mostly as fellow Europeans tried to follow in his footsteps and realized how hard it actually was, his reputation began to recover. He is now mostly celebrated as a daring and tenacious explorer. Though Magellan himself did not actually survive the trip, he is generally remembered for having been responsible for the first European circumnavigation of the Earth.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis gorgeous 3-ounce silver round honours the 500th anniversary of Magellan's death in 1521, which occurred in the middle of the very expedition that would complete the first circumnavigation of the globe. It depicts the explorer and one of his ships in a detailed antique finish, with an attractive gold-plated inlay meant to resemble a ship's helm. This inlay spins! Truly a unique piece that both honours the past and provides a promising investment in the future.","brand":"Colonial Acres Coins","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53692921315617,"sku":"Oct.Week4.P1-KB3112","price":299.95,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0679\/1744\/7457\/files\/KB3112.jpg?v=1792777568","url":"https:\/\/www.colonialacres.com\/products\/octw4-kb3112","provider":"Colonial Acres Coins","version":"1.0","type":"link"}