Tuvalu – 2010 – 1 Dollar – Turtle (PROOF)

Description

Metal: Silver .925

Weight: 25 g

Diameter: 38.61 mm

Quality: Proof

Mintage: 2’500 pcs.

Tuvalu is an island group located in the south western part of the Pacific Ocean and has been independent since 1978. Its national territory consists of nine islands. The atoll Funafuti is the capital. It is assumed that already 2000 years ago the colonisation on this 26 km2 area started.

The current population on the various atolls is approximately 12?200. The main economy branches are agriculture, fishing and seafaring. For the latter even a school especially for training sailors exists.

Tuvalu?s main problem is the global warming. The islands highest peak is merely 5 meters above sea level. Therefore one can seriously reckon that in the course of the 21st century Tuvalu will disappear. This coin series shows the beauty of this threatened island world.

The Spanish explorer Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira was the first european to discover Tuvalu in 1568 with his ship named Los Reyes. The hawksbill turtle is a beautiful sea-dweller but is also very critically endangered.