9. CYPRUS, MAKARIOS III COINS 1966-1977, PROOF AND MINT STATE ISSUES

Set Description
CYPRUS, ARCHBISHOP MAKARIOS III, COINS

Cyprus, an independent Republic since 1960, became a member of the British Commonwealth in 1961 and a member of the European Union in 2004. It is an island situated in the north-eastern corner of the Mediterranean. With an area of 3,572 square miles, it is the third largest island in the Mediterranean and has a population of over 800,000 of whom the 80% are Greeks and 20% Turks.
Should there be any wonder why Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty, made her home on this island? As Homer affirms in the Odyssey, " laughter-loving Aphrodite went to Cyprus where is her realm and fragrant altar ".

Cyprus had an ancient civilization, and a coinage, emulating that of the ancient Greek world, made its appearance back in 568 B.C. Because of its strategic position and wealth Cyprus was coveted by all those countries who wanted to exercise power in the Eastern Mediterranean. Throughout its long history, Cyprus formed part of the Empires of Assyria, Egypt, Persia, Rome and Byzantium. In 1193 A.D. Cyprus became part of the Frankish Kingdom of the Lusignans who ruled the Island until 1489 when it was passed over to Venice as a dependency. In 1571 Cyprus was conquered by the Turks who finally handed it over to England in 1878. The British rule lasted until 1960 when Cyprus became an Independent Republic.

Archbishop Makarios III was born on August 13,1913 in Panayia, a village near Paphos. He studied theology at the University of Athens and Boston University. He became bishop of Kition in 1948 and archbishop of the autocephalus Orthodox Church of Cyprus in 1950. As he took active part in the struggle against British domination and for the independence of Cyprus he was exiled in the Seychelles Inlands in 1956 and 1957. In December 1959, as the representative of the Greek community he accepted and signed the independence of Cyprus and became the first President of the Republic of Cyprus. He was reelected in 1968 and 1973. He remained President of the Republic until 1977 when he died. Archbishop Makarios III was widely recognised as been one of the great leaders of the 20th century. Several coins and medals were struck during and after his Presidency by different Mints.

The three 1966 gold issues of this set correspond to the Half-Sovereign, the Sovereign and the Five-pound gold piece of Great Britain. They were struck by the French State Mint in Paris and placed for sale on 6th June 1966. There were proof strikes and uncirculated strikes for all the issues, with a mintage of 25,000 (PF and MS) for the half-sovereign, 50,000 (PF and MS) for the sovereign and 1,500 (PF and MS) for the five-pound gold piece.

The three 1974 silver issues (Mintage: 120,000) had a face value of three, six and twelve pounds.

The1966 gold issues and the 1974 silver ones, all show on the obverse the bust of the Archbishop facing left and wearing clerical heed-dress dignitary's veil, and on the reverse the Bicephalous (double-headed) eagle, emblem of the Byzantine Emperors adopted by the Church of Cyprus.
Both the obverse and reverse designs are the work of the Greek sculptor Basil Phalireas.

The 1977 gold 50 pounds, proof ( Mintage: 33,600) and mint state ( Mintage: 26.750), were issued by the Central Bank of Cyprus. The design of these was also the work of B. Phalireas.

PROOF COINS

A newly minted proof coin is also Un-circulated, however it is the way it is made that causes a difference in appearance and qualifies it as a "proof". Coins are produced when two dies strike a blank piece of metal with tremendous force. One die is engraved with the front (obverse) design for the coin. The other die has the back (reverse) coin design on it.

A proof coin is made with
a specially polished and treated die!

By treating the die in a special way, the coins it produces have a different appearance. The background (field) design of the coin die is polished, resulting in a mirror-like look on the coin it strikes. This gives the finished coin a frosted look (frosting) on the raise parts of the design, with a mirror like finish on the background. This contrasting finish is often called "cameo". On some older coins a cameo appearance is quite rare. The attribute "CAMEO", when added to a coin's description, means cameo appearance. "ULTRA CAMEO" indicates the cameo appearance is strong and easy to observe.

Proof coins are struck twice, or more!

Not only are proofs made using specially treated dies, each coin is struck two or more times by the coin die. By striking it more than once the metal is forced into all the crevices of the die, thereby giving a very fine detail to the image on the coin. This fine detail does not appear on some non-proof coins.

Grading proofs

Today's grading of proofs is similar to the grades used for uncirculated coins. The attribute "PR" or "PF" stands for "proof", and is used instead of the MS (mint state) to indicate a proof coin. Proofs (that are also uncirculated) will be graded PF 60 to PF 70, with PF 70 being rare or nonexistent in some cases. Because a proof coin can be mishandled or receive wear by cleaning or handling, proof grades can extend below PF 60. Like uncirculated coins, proofs can experience toning, tarnish or darkening.

This collection contains examples of coins in proof, proof cameo, proof ultra cameo as well as uncirculated condition.

Set Goals
HOBBY