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NEWFOUNDLAND
Norse explorers first discovered the area about AD 1000. Remains of a settlement at L'Anse-aux-Meadows were uncovered in 1963. The area was visited in 1497 by the Italian-born explorer John Cabot, sailing under the English flag, and by the Portuguese navigator Gaspar Corte-Real in 1500. The French explorer Jacques Cartier visited the island in 1534. England made no attempt at colonization, but during the 16th century the coastal waters of the island attracted increasing numbers of French, English, and Spanish fishermen. In 1583 Sir Humphrey Gilbert took formal possession of Newfoundland in the name of England. A colony, which became St. John's, was established in 1610 on the Avalon Peninsula. During the 17th century France also acquired a foothold on the island, establishing a base of operations on the shores of Placentia Bay. French forces sacked and burned most of the English settlements on the island at one time or another and for a while seemed to have the upper hand. In 1713, however, British sovereignty over Newfoundland was recognized by the Peace of Utrecht. France retained only the islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, off the south coast, and cod fisheries on the west coast. In 1832 Great Britain granted Newfoundland the right of representative government, and in 1855 complete self-government. The financial condition of Newfoundland was continually precarious, and the adverse effects of the world economic depression of the 1930s resulted in virtual bankruptcy. In 1934 the British Parliament suspended responsible government, and executive authority was vested in the governor, three Newfoundlanders, and three British commissioners, all subject to parliamentary control. The commission worked to develop agriculture, employment opportunities, and the educational and social welfare facilities of Newfoundland. As a result, economic conditions improved considerably. In 1946 a 45-member national convention was elected to investigate whether Newfoundland had accomplished its economic recovery and to ascertain the form of government desired by its people. On 22 July 22 1948, Newfoundland chose to unite itself with Canada. On 31 March 1949, Newfoundland became the tenth Canadian province.
2 Dollars - 1882-H
KM-005 - 3,33 g
Mintage - 0,025M
This is a small coin from Newfoundland when it
was a British colony on the eastern coast of North America.
It joined Canada in 1949. The
obverse pictures a laureated bust of Queen Victoria (b1819-d1901) with the Latin
legend meaning VICTORIA BY GRACE OF GOD QUEEN.
The colony's name is below the bust. The reverse has the denomination
spelled out in dollars and British pence.
There are more Newfoundland gold coins in this section if you are interested - Page Netherlands 1
NEW ZEALAND
Between 950 and 1130 AD the Polynesians arrive and settle New Zealand. In 1642 the first European Abel Tasman from Holland, sails into New Zealand waters. The first encounter between Maori and European is violent, leading to bloodshed. After partly charting the coastline, Tasman leaves New Zealand without having had the occasion to set foot ashore. In 1769 James Cook, British explorer, and Jean François Marie de Surville, commander of a French trading ship, arrive coincidentally in New Zealand at the same time. Neither ship ever sights the other. From 1839 to 1841 the country was under the jurisdiction of New South Wales. The Maori indigenous people of New Zealand, sign the Waitangi Treaty with the British on 6 February 1840. As settlers arrive, conflict with the Maori was inevitable. New Zealand was given dominion status in the British Empire in 1907 and granted autonomy by Britain in 1931; independence, however, was not formally proclaimed until 1947.
150 Dollars - 1990
KM-077 - 16,95 g - 28,2 mm
Edge
- Reeded
Mintage 0.010M
This NCLT "coin" was minted by the Royal Australian Mint to mark the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. The obverse has a bust of Queen Elizabeth II (b1926-). Her name ELIZABETH II is to the left, the country NEW ZEALAND is to the right, and the date 1990 is at the bottom. The reverse has a Kiwi under a palm tree with the denomination 150 DOLLARS below the bird.
NICARAGUA
The country probably takes its name from Nicarao, the leader of an indigenous community inhabiting the shores of Lake Nicaragua that was defeated in 1522 by the Spanish under Gil González de Ávila. Under Spanish rule Nicaragua was part of the captaincy general of Guatemala. After declaring independence from Spain (1821), Nicaragua was briefly part of the Mexican Empire of Agustín de Iturbide and then (1825–38) a member of the Central American Federation. Nicaraguan politics were wracked by conflict between Liberals and Conservatives, centered respectively in León and Granada; Managua was founded as the capital in 1855 as a compromise. British influence had been established along the east coast in the 17th cent., and in 1848 the British seizure of San Juan del Norte opened a period of conflict over control of the Mosquito Coast. The United States was interested in a transisthmian canal (see Nicaragua Canal), and its interest was heightened by the discovery of gold in California. In 1851, Cornelius Vanderbilt opened a transisthmian route through Nicaragua for the gold seekers. The Clayton-Bulwer Treaty (1850) settled some of the issues between Great Britain and the United States concerning the proposed canal, but Nicaragua remained in a state of disorder that culminated in the temporary triumph (1855–57) of the filibuster William Walker. After Walker's defeat there was a long period of quiet under Conservative control until the Liberal leader, José Santos Zelaya, became president in 1894. He instituted a vigorous dictatorship, extended Nicaraguan authority over the Mosquito Coast, promoted economic development, and interfered in the affairs of neighboring countries. His financial dealings with Britain aroused the apprehension of the United States and helped bring about his downfall (1909). In 1912, U.S. marines were landed to support the provisional president, Adolfo Díaz, in a civil war. The Bryan-Chamorro Treaty, giving the United States exclusive rights for a Nicaraguan canal and other privileges, was ratified in 1916. (It was terminated in 1970.) The Liberals opposed the U.S. intervention, and there was guerrilla warfare against the U.S.-supported regime for years. American occupation ended in 1925 but resumed the next year, when Emiliano Chamorro attempted to seize power. Augusto César Sandino was a leader of the anti-occupation forces. The U.S. diplomat Henry L. Stimson succeeded in getting most factions to agree (1927) to binding elections, although Sandino continued to fight. The U.S. marines were withdrawn in 1933. Three years later Anastasio Somoza emerged as the strong man in Nicaragua. He officially became president in 1937 and ruled for 20 years. In the 1947 elections a new president was chosen, but he was ousted by Somoza after less than a month in office. Nicaragua virtually became Somoza's private estate; the regime aroused much criticism among liberal groups in Latin America. Under Somoza relations with other Central American republics were poor. Somoza was assassinated in 1956, and his son Luis Somoza Debayle became president. Another son, Anastasio Somoza Debayle, headed the armed forces. The Somoza family engineered the election of René Schick Gutiérrez as president in 1963. After his death in 1966, Lorenzo Guerrero, the vice president, succeeded. Anastasio Somoza Debayle was elected president in 1967. Although Somoza resigned from office in May, 1972, handing power to the governing council, he retained effective control of the country as head of the armed forces and leader of the NLP. After the earthquake (Dec., 1972) that devastated Managua, he became director of the emergency relief operations and diverted international aid to himself and his associates, an abuse that solidified opposition to the Somoza regime. Somoza returned to the presidency in 1974 as objections to his regime increased. The opposition was grouped under two large factions, the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) and the Democratic Liberation Union (UDEL). Violent clashes between the Somoza government and the opposition mounted throughout the 1970s until in 1979 the FSLN and UDEL toppled the Somoza government. The more radical, left-wing FSLN (or Sandinistas) took control of the government, instituting widespread social, political, and economic changes. Many economic institutions and resources were nationalized, land was redistributed, and social services such as health care and education were improved. In 1981 the United States, politically unsupportive of the Sandinista government and suspicious of its relations with the Soviet Union and Cuba, cut off economic aid and began supporting counterrevolutionary military forces, or contras. After the U.S. Congress acted to cut off aid to the contras, it was continued covertly (see Iran-contra affair). In 1984 the United States illegally mined Nicaragua's principal export harbors, and in 1985 it instituted a trade embargo. In 1984, under pressure, the regime held elections, in which the junta leader, Daniel Ortega Saavedra, was chosen president. The Sandinista government was popular especially with the peasants and the urban poor. Although it received substantial Soviet aid, it was increasingly unable to maintain the economy, and it curtailed civil liberties to silence dissent. In the Feb., 1990, elections, held under a Central American peace initiative, the FSLN was defeated by an opposition coalition, and Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, a political moderate, became president. The United States subsequently lifted its trade embargo, and the contras ceased fighting. Chamorro sought, with mixed success, to revive the economy and generate a conciliatory political environment; tense relations between the Sandinistas and their opponents at times threatened to undermine her government. Ortega ran for president again in 1996, but was defeated by José Arnoldo Alemán Lacayo, leader of the Liberal Alliance, a conservative coalition. The country was devastated by Hurricane Mitch in Nov., 1998, which killed 4,000 people, including over 1,500 buried in a mudslide when the Casita volcano collapsed; much of the country's agricultural land and infrastructure were destroyed. The Liberal party retained the presidency in the 2001 elections as Enrique Bolaños Geyer defeated Daniel Ortega. Bolaños launched an anticorruption campaign that led (2003) to the conviction of his predecessor for embezzlement and other crimes. The move against Alemán, who was jailed but later released to detention at his farm, led to a power struggle in 2004 between Liberal party members in the national assembly, who formed an alliance with the Sandinistas, and President Bolaños. Legislators attempted to pass constitutional amendments curtailing the president's powers and attempted to force him from office. An accord ending the dispute was negotiated in Jan., 2005, but legislators subsequently passed the amendments, which the administration has ignored despite rulings from the supreme court (largely appointed by the Sandinistas). The power struggle effectively paralyzed the government. In July, 2005, the president's opponents initiated impeachment proceedings, but in October Bolaños and Ortega reached an agreement that would delay the constitutional changes until 2007, after Bolaños had left office, and the legislature subsequently approved the move.
1000
Cordobas - 1975
KM-40 - 9,50 g - 25 mm
Edge - Reeded
Minted 3.380
This NCLT coin was issued to commemorate the USA Bicentenniel. The obverse has the Nicaraguan State arms with the date 1975 and the fineness/content 8.74 GR - ORO FINO LEY 2000 below. The country's name REPUBLICA DE NICARAGUA 0 AMERICA CENTRAL encircles the arms. The reverse has USA's Liberty Bell flanked by the dates 1776 and 1876. The legend at the top is HOMENAJE A LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA (Honoring the United States of America). The denomination 1000 CORDOBAS is at the bottom.
NIGER
The first recognisable empire in the region was the Kanem-Bornu Empire that flourished between the 10th and 13th century, and again briefly in the 16th. This was about the same time that the Hausa clans were moving from Nigeria into Niger, followed quickly by the Djerma, descendants of the Songhaï. Sultans from these clans carved out empires for themselves, on the lucrative trade routes, with sales of gold and by providing an endless supply of subjects for the slave trade. Niger remained the exclusive province of the sultans until 1898, when the French added Niger to their list of colonised countries. In the late 1950s, when French Presisdent Charles de Gaulle offered the West African colonies a form of self-government in a French Union, or independence. Although the original vote was for self-government, the next two years saw a lot of political argument between the government and a number of disenchanted parties agitating for full independence. Niger finally gained full independence in 1960. As is the case in most African former European colonies, chaos and deprivation became the order of the day even when these countries had abundant natural resources.
50
Francs - 1960
KM-3 - 16,00 g
Minted 1.000
This NCLT coin was issued to commemorate independence. The obverse has a bust of Pres. Diori Hamani (b1916-d1989) with his name around the top half and the country's name REPUBLIQUE DU NIGER around the bottom. Hamani was ousted by a military coup d'etat in 1864. The reverse has the national arms with INDEPENDANCE at the top, the denomination 50 FRs amd the date 1 AOUT 1960 below.
NORWAY
Norway's first settlers arrived over 10,000 years ago at the end of the Ice Age. These early hunters and gatherers followed the glaciers as they retreated north, pursuing migratory reindeer herds. The country's greatest impact on history was during the Viking Age, a period thought to have begun with the plundering of England's Lindisfarne monastery by Nordic pirates in 793 AD. Over the next century, the Vikings made raids throughout Europe, establishing settlements along the way. Viking leader Harald Fårfagre (Fairhair) unified Norway around 900 and King Olaf, adopting the religion of the lands he had conquered, converted the people to Christianity a century later. The Vikings were great sailors and became the first to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Eric the Red, the son of a Norwegian exiled to Iceland, colonised Greenland in 982. In 1001, Eric's Icelandic son, Leif Eriksson, became possibly the first European to explore the coast of North America when he sailed off course on a voyage from Norway to Greenland. However, the Viking Age came to an end in 1066 when the Norwegian king Harald Hardrada was routed at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in England. In 1397 Norway was absorbed into a union with Denmark which lasted over 400 years. Norway was ceded to Sweden in 1814. That same year a defiant Norway adopted its own constitution, but its struggle for independence was quelled by a Swedish invasion. In the end, Norwegians were allowed to keep their new constitution but were forced to accept the Swedish king. Growing nationalism eventually led to Norway's peaceful secession from Sweden in 1905. Norwegians subsequently voted in favour of a monarchy over a republic and selected Prince Carl of Denmark to be king. Upon acceptance, he took the title Håkon VII and named his infant son Olav, both prominent names in Norway's Viking past. A no-vote for application with the EU in a 1994 referendum sent shock waves through European governments who were attempting to force the Maastricht treaty on their citizens.
20 Kroner - 1902
KM-355
- 8,96 g
Mintage - 0,050M
This coin's obverse has a bareheaded bust of
King Oscar II (b1829-d1907) struck when Sweden and Norway were confederated
(Norway withdrew from this union in 1905). Oscar
abdicated the Norwegian crown in 1905 but remained King of Sweden. The
Norwegian legend reads OSCAR II KING OF NORWAY AND SWEDEN. The Norwegian legend below roughly means BROTHERLY PEOPLE ARE
WELL. The reverse has the Norwegian
coat of arms with the denomination at the top and the date separated by the
mintmark for the Oslo mint.
There are more Norwegian
gold coins in this section if you are interested - Page
Norway 1
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