Things have been a little too interesting here in southern California lately. The wild fires north of Los Angeles have destroyed entire areas leaving nothing but toxic debris in their wake. The number of people who were killed in the rapid moving fires is expected to grow as the destroyed homes are searched. Many have lost everything and many people didn't have insurance as many companies cancelled coverage recently due to high risk for fire.
Even down here in Orange county the air quality has been affected, I try to avoid heading out much when it's real bad. Sunny southern California is not the place to be right now! I have been considering selling the house and moving a lot lately, this might be the final straw to get me moving to another less expensive state. One place high on the list is Florida, I've lived there before and loved it there.
That brings me to the real point of my post today. I am still waiting for my Florida Goldbacks to arrive. For those unfamiliar the Goldback, it's pure gold micro-deposited into an artistic bill. They aren't actual currency, rather a tool one can use to invest in gold or use for trade. This year they are releasing the new Florida line which has really beautiful designs celebrating the state's past. I recently shared the 1 Goldback, today I will be talking about the 1/2 Goldback which contains 1/2000th of a Troy ounce pure 24K gold. Have a look:
I love the design they created for this Goldback. It incorporates a lot of element's of the state's history into a gorgeous work of art. This one is entitled Spes which means hope, and was also an ancient Roman goddess. I'll go over a few of the interesting artistic highlights in the bill itself today.
First off the young woman is dressed in armor of a Spanish conquistador, but the emblem on the armor is the French fleur-de-lis emblem, representing the short time when France attempted to colonize Florida. She is kneeling by the fabled fountain of youth, which sadly doesn't exist... I could use one of those, or at least a pill to make me twenty years younger.
Because we see the fountain of youth, we have to talk about the man fabled to have searched for it, Juan Ponce de León.
Juan Ponce de León
Wikipedia.com
The 1513 on the stone in the bottom left of the design represents the year that de León led the first official European exploration into Florida. I'm sure you all have heard that he was searching for the mythical fountain of youth, however, it's just that, a myth. There is no historical evidence to support it whatsoever. He did explore some of the eastern coastline down the the Florida Keys and north up the gulf coast.
Born in around 1474 to a noble family he joined Christopher Columbus on his second expedition to the new world. He was the first conquistador to officially explore Puerto Rico in 1508 and became the first governor of the island in 1509. This made him a very wealthy man, however, he lost the governorship to Diego Colón who was son of Christopher Columbus. He then sailed to Florida in 1513. After the successful exploration he was reappointed governor of Puerto Rico and given authority to settle Florida. The settlement was delayed by the king's death, but finally began in 1521. The native Calusa population strongly resisted his plans to colonize southern Florida, and during a battle with them de León was wounded by a poisoned arrow in his leg. He subsequently sailed to Cuba where he died from his wound in July of 1521. He is buried in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
One interesting fact I learned today is that the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico isn't named after him as I had believed. It was named after his great grandson Juan Ponce de León y Loayza. Having learned something new today, the day has not been wasted!
Florida Cracker Horse
horsebreedspictures.com
These were the first horses to arrive in Florida in 1521 as part of Ponce de León's attempted settlement of southern Florida. The breed is considered critically endangered with less than 2,000 genetically pure animals remaining. They were used extensively in the southeast US to herd cattle and have excellent speed and agility. Around 1930 the breed started to diminish in popularity leaving only a few breeders with pure bloods.
The breed is the official horse of the state of Florida and conservation programs are in place to build up numbers. The name cracker apparently came from loud (and often rude) cattle drivers that were often referred to as "crackers".
Zebra Longwing Butterfly
fity.club
These butterflies live from South America through Central America and into Texas and Florida. It is the official butterfly of the state of Florida. An interesting factoid is that they are able to synthesize a toxin making them poisonous to predators, much like the Monarch butterfly. They are a very pretty breed though and I've seen them when I lived in Florida and South America.
Conch Shell
The conch shell is meant to commemorate the Timucua native people who populated north Florida and into Georgia. Though at first relations with the Spanish were peaceful, diseases and war destroyed the population once numbering 200,000. Today it's unclear if any descendants of the tribe survived, although some were taken to Cuba.
The Calusa tribe faired better for a longer period of time as they resisted any contact with the Spanish. But in the early 1700's the Spanish supplied arms to hostile tribes and destroyed them as they had no firearms. Some of the last Calusa were taken to Cuba and mixed descendants are thought to have survived.
A very sad ending to both groups of native Americans who once lived and thrived throughout what is today Florida.
That will wrap up my post on this beautiful Goldback, I can't wait for mine to arrive! If you have any questions or comments please feel free to leave them below. Thank you so much for all of your support, it is deeply appreciated! Have a great week everyone!
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Ponce_de_Le%C3%B3n
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heliconius_charithonia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Cracker_Horse
https://www.goldback.com/florida-goldback-gallery
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timucua
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calusa
Disclaimer:
I am not a financial planner and this isn't financial advice. Please always do your own research before investing your money. You worked hard enough to earn it!
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