Sunday, September 19, 2010

Europa 1992 - Gibraltar PNC

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Date of Issue: February 06, 1992
Scott: 611a, 613a

Today I would like to share my first PNC (Philately and Numistaic Cover) in my collection.

The stamps as part of Europa theme, were issued on February 06, 1992 and this official stamp and coin  cover (PNC) was issued by Gibraltar on August 03, 1992 with a £2 coin depicting Christopher Columbus and his flag ship Santa Maria to commemorate 500th anniversary of discovery of the Americas.

24p - Columbus and Santa Maria
24p - map and Nina
34p - map of Columbus' many voyages and Pinta
34p - map and sailor - Rodrigo de Triana

Few interesting words from the information printed on the card - ".....the fleet weighed anchor on the 3 August 1492 arriving at the Canaries on the 10 August. It was not until the 6 September that the 3 caravels set sail from the Canaries into the unknown - The NEPLUS ULTRA.
Despite various false alarms probably through the eagerness by mariners to claim the reward for sighting land it was not until 2 o'clock in the morning of 12 October that land was clearly sighted by Rodrigo de Triana (honored on the fourth stamp, see FDC), a sailor on board the Pinta about 6 miles away.

The land sighted turned out to be an island called Guanahani by its inhabitants and renamed San Salvador by Columbus. The island is now knows as Watling Island in the Bahamas...."

The coin on the cover shows Columbus and his flag ship "Santa Maria."

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