PURGATORIO The Divine Comedy 700th Anniversary 5 Oz Silver Coin 5000 Francs Cameroon 2021

Dante's Masterpiece

Dante Alighieri's La Divina Commedia (The Divine Comedy) is a long narrative poem composed over 700 years ago. It is often regarded as one of the greatest masterpieces of literature ever written.

The poem is divided into three parts: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso, and follows Dante's journey from darkness and error to the revelation of divine light, ending in the Beatific Vision of God. To celebrate the poem's 700th anniversary, Mint XXI created a series of three coins, each symbolizing one of the three parts of the poem.

The mint initially released Inferno, and then jumped to the last part of the poem, Paradiso. The release of the second coin was a little disappointing as collectors expected a coin dedicated to the second part of the poem and also because there were rumors that the series would be made of two coins only.  Fortunately, this is not the case and we can finally look at the Purgatorio coin.

"PURGATORIO": THE REVERSE

PURGATORIO the Divine Comedy 700th Anniversary 5 Oz Silver Coin 5000 Francs Cameroon 2021 is a breathtaking 5 Oz Silver coin with an outstanding High Relief design filled with many details. The coin has a diameter of 65 mm and features a faithful reproduction of Dante’s depiction of Purgatory.

After passing through the gate of Purgatory, depicted at the bottom of the coin’s reverse, the poet goes through the Purgatory mountain, consisting of Seven Terraces.

The terraces are populated by a multitude of souls atoning for their sins in order to eventually enter Paradise. Mint XXI did an incredible job representing what happens in every terrace, each one corresponding to one of the Seven Deadly Sins.

1)           In the first terrace souls are paying for their pride and are bent over the weight of huge stones.

2)           The souls in the second terrace have their eyes sewn shut with iron wire as a punishment for their sin of envy.

3)           On the third terrace, the wrathful walk around in a cloud of blinding smoke, symbolizing the blinding effect of anger.

4)           In the fourth terrace, souls are punished for their sloth by being compelled to run around the terrace incessantly.

5)           We've reached the fifth terrace, where greed is punished and souls plead while lying face down on the ground.

6)           In the sixth terrace souls are forced to fast in order to atone for their gluttony.

7)           The last terrace is that of lustful and has a wall of flame through which everyone must pass.

"PURGATORIO": OBVERSE AND PRESENTATION

The obverse of the coin has a well-known image of Dante wearing the traditional laurel crown, as well as some issue details.

The coin is packaged in what appears to be an ancient book, which is appropriate given the piece's topic. The case is made of wood, has a hinged lid, and is held closed by two magnets. The inside part of the case below the lid is cushioned and refined, whereas the coin is kept on the right side of the case and is protected in a capsule. The coin is packaged with a valuable addition: a tiny book with a summary of the poem in English, Italian, and German, as well as the Certificate of Authenticity.

According to Dante’s numerology focused on the meaning of the number “3”, the mintage of the coin is set to only 333 pieces worldwide.

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