| Description : Christopher Columbus (∼1451‐1506) was an Italian
navigator in Castilian service who discovered America in 1492 when he reached an island in the Bahamas. Luciana De
Simomi shows his portrait after a painting by Sebastiano del Piombo ‐ with his name and the year 1519 ‐
together with his three sailing ships Niña, Pinta and Santa Maria, with which he crossed the Atlantic.
Below the inscription "SAN MARINO", a 16‐rayed sun is depicted at the top in the form of a compass rose, a graphic
means of representing winds and wind directions or cardinal points. The dates "1506✧2006" appear on a scroll below,
with the designer's initials "LDS" underneath. The letter "R" the mint mark of the Italian mint Istituto Poligrafico e
Zecca dello Stato in Rome is placed to the left of the uppermost ship. |
