2012 Compass Rose Geocoin - Cape of Good Hope

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Covering nearly one quarter of the earth’s land surface, the geography of Africa has always presented an immense challenge for sea-faring vessels to circumnavigate. In the north, the ancient civilization of Carthage was a superpower in the Mediterranean due to their advanced maritime experience. Carthaginian warships were even more advanced than those of the Romans and Greeks! Off the coast of Morocco and the Western Sahara lies the Canary Islands, which were a stop along the voyage of Christopher Columbus as he set off to explore the New World. Far to the south, the Cape Of Good Hope marks the symbolic passage between the East and the New World. However, this rocky promontory is also one of the most treacherous passages to navigate in the world. Extreme winds and the swirling currents of two converging oceans have caused hundreds of shipwrecks, and thus explain the cape’s original, more sinister name...Cape of Storms.

The details within the 2012 Compass Rose Geocoin® reflect a diversity of images as grand as the continent that inspired it. On the front of the coin, the compass points hold images of some of the most awe-inspiring animals on the planet. The Lion, king of the beasts, once ruled the North. The majestic Elephant points his trunk to the East. A Great White Shark breeches the ocean surface in the South. And the migrating Wildebeest leads his herd westward to the watering hole. The back of the coin features a scene depicting two frightened sailors as they catch sight of the legendary ghost ship...The Flying Dutchman! 17th-century nautical folklore holds that the crew of the Flying Dutchman encountered a violent storm off the Cape Of Good Hope. It is said that the captain refused to turn back, exclaiming: “I will round this Cape, even if I have to keep sailing until doomsday!” And so he does, appearing as “a phantom ship all aglow” that shall never make port again.