W001
Copper-Nickel, BU
39 mm (1-1/2”), 32 grams
HISTORY: The West African nation of the Republic of Sierra Leone celebrated the 500th anniversary of da Vinci’s Mona Lisa with an issue of this $1 coin.
OBVERSE: The obverse displays the country’s crest, with “UNITY, FREEDOM, JUSTICE” across the banner. Below “UNITY” are the initials “PM,” Pobjoy Mint, Ltd., Europe’s largest private mint.
REVERSE: The reverse is quite an achievement, illustrating da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man framed in a circle and a square, surrounded (clockwise) by his Last Supper, oak branches on the bottom right quadrant, Mona Lisa’s hands at the bottom, and blackberry branches entwining John the Baptist’s upward pointing hand on the lower left quadrant. There is also da Vinci’s mark, as well as his signature, normal and mirrored (which was his style), to the right of Vitruvian Man.
