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1000 Francs CFA Sailing Ship - Preussen
| Issuer | Benin (1975-date) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1993 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | 38 mm |
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|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | A highly detailed broadside view of the five-masted full-rigged sailing ship Preussen underway on a stylized sea rendered with engraved wave lines in the lower field. The vessel is depicted with all square sails set on her five masts, her rigging and hull rendered with fine precision. The ship's name PREUSSEN is engraved in prominent serif lettering along the lower exergue, with the date 1993 inscribed directly below. |
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| Additional information |
Benin's early commemorative program in the 1990s was largely contract work, produced for the collector market through European minting houses with no meaningful domestic distribution. This piece honors the Preussen, the only five-masted square-rigged sailing ship ever built, launched in 1902 by the German firm Rickmers for the nitrate trade between Hamburg and Chile. She was deliberately designed without an engine — her owners bet on sail efficiency at scale, and for several years the gamble paid off.
The Preussen sank in 1910 after a collision with a cross-channel steamer near Dover. She was never salvaged.