FAKE COIN - TESTING ONLY

The second release in this charming series features the Golden Hind, best known for its circumnavigation of the globe between 1577 and 1580, captained by Sir Francis Drake. Struck from 1oz of 99.9% pure silver in proof quality, the coin is issued as legal tender under the authority of the Government of Tuvalu. The Golden Hind was an English galleon renamed by Drake to compliment his patron, Sir Christopher Hatton, whose armorial crest was a golden 'hind' (the heraldic term for a female deer). Hatton was one of the principal sponsors of Drake's world voyage. In 1577, Queen Elizabeth I of England chose Sir Francis Drake as the leader of an expedition intended to pass around South America through the Strait of Magellan and to explore the coast that lay beyond. Before setting sail, Drake met the queen face-to-face for the first time and she said to him, "We would gladly be revenged on the King of Spain for divers injuries that we have received”. In effect, the Queen gave Drake her unofficial permission to privateer.