Portugal

2015

Commemorative coin

500 years of the first contacts with Timor

Official Journal of the European Union

The design depicts a XVI Century ship, representing the arrival of the Portuguese navigators to the island, and a local house thatched roof top, including the typical wood sculptures, permanent memories of myths and legends. The one depicted on the coin represents the history of the first inhabitants, who arrived by boat from other parts of the Asian continent and the importance of the horse to travel around the steep mountains which cover most of the island. At the top right, the year ‘1515’ and the name of the issuing country ‘PORTUGAL’. At the bottom left, the inscription ‘TIMOR’ and the year ‘2015’. At the bottom, the signature of the artist Fernando Fonseca. The coin’s outer ring depicts the 12 stars of the European flag.

Additional information

In 1515, the first Portuguese ship landed on Timor, one of the Lesser Sunda Islands - in 1586, most of the island was declared a colony of Portuguese Timor. After the proclamation of East Timor's independence in 1975, Indonesia occupied the country. East Timor's chequered history culminated in the founding of the - Portuguese-speaking - Democratic Republic of East Timor in 2002. The commemorative coin shows a contemporary Portuguese caravel with the paw cross of the Order of Christ on its sails as well as the roof of a traditional Timorese house with wooden sculptures that recall myths and legends in the context of the animistic traditional religion. The ridge depicted stylised on the coin symbolises the story of the first inhabitants who came from the Malay Archipelago on a boat called a "Beiro". The silhouette of a "Beiro" boat hull as well as five horses and their riders - three facing right and two facing left - adorn the ridge: Given the steep mountains that almost completely cover the island, horses were important means of transport.

Edge lettering

Designer