Gold Ounce 2021 Pirate Queens - Ching Shih, Coin from Solomon Islands - detailed information

Apart from its regular circulating coinage, Solomon Islands has authorised a number of mints to issue collector coins in precious metals, which are legal tender in the country but are not intended for general circulation. Many of them are in standard bullion sizes - such as one ounce of gold (abbreviated as 1 oz Au, where "Au" comes from the Latin word for gold, Aurum). These are usually dedicated to historical or general popular culture themes not related to the country itself.

This design is the second issue in the Pirate Queens series of premium bullion coins by the Royal Australian Mint, and features Chinese pirate Ching Shih - one of the most notorious female pirates of her time.

Ching Shih was born Shih Yang in 1775 in a poverty-ridden community in Guangdong Province, China. To supplement her family's income, she worked as a prostitute from an early age before marrying the pirate Zheng Yi and building a strong fleet of some 1,200 ships to sail the world's oceans. A force of 80,000 men was under her command - compared to the famous pirate Blackbeard, who commanded only a few thousand men and about 300 ships.