2 oz Pure Silver Coin – Republique du Tchad 2021 – 10000 Francs CFA

In 1581, a tall, black African man by the name of Yasuke became the first foreign man to be bestowed the rank of a Samurai in Japan. Yasuke had arrived in Japan during a tumultuous time when the country was heavily embroiled in a civil war with warlords across the country battling for power. Over time, he became fluent in Japanese, cultivated an appreciation for poetry, and armed himself with knowledge in Japanese martial arts. In addition to these traits, his past military experience, height, build, and skin tone awed Japan’s most powerful warlord, Oda Nobunaga, who took a liking to Yasuke and recruited him into his trusted entourage.

Yasuke continued to impress Nobunaga greatly through their interactions, increasingly gaining his respect and trust over time. Eventually, Nobunaga found him deserving of the honorable rank of Samurai and bestowed it to him. He had claimed profound importance in Nobunaga’s life, to the extent that before Nobunaga killed himself at the Battle of Honno-ji Temple, he tasked Yasuke to deliver his head to his son. Records of him became scarce upon Nobunaga’s death, but Yasuke remains a legend in Japanese history. 

Yasuke is depicted here in the Karuta armor of Japanese Samurais, standing firm with his Katana, or Japanese sword, in hand. He draws the Katana slightly and looks forward, an imposing bearing that matches his reputation as the formidable African Samurai. The collectible is finished with a skillful application of lacquer mixed with gold – inspired by the Japanese “Kintsugi” technique of repairing broken pottery through mending areas of breakage with the same substance. As a result, intricate gold lines lay aesthetically across Yasuke, with extensions to the obverse over the legal tender, the Coat of Arms du Tchad.

A new minting technique called “Bi-Metal Max” was applied to give this piece its remarkable weight and 80mm diameter – double the size of the regular 2 oz collectible. This is made possible by combining 11.5 oz of copper as a base with a top layer of 2 oz of 999 fine-silver, resulting in a super ultra-high relief topped with silver antiqued finishing.