Spain High Relief Copper Medal "Ponce de Leon" (1987)

• Mint: Fabrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre - Real Casa de la Moneda
• Quality: Antique
• Issue limit: N/A
• Alloy: Copper
• Diameter: 80 mm
• Weight: grams
• Box/Capsule: No/No
• Certificate: No

This large-size copper medal was designed by Fernando Jesús in 1987 to commemorated Ponce de Leon.

Born into Spanish nobility, Juan Ponce de León (1460-1521) may have accompanied Christopher Columbus on his 1493 voyage to the Americas.

A decade later, he was serving as governor of the eastern province of Hispaniola when he decided to explore a nearby island, which became Puerto Rico.

In pursuit of a rumored fountain of youth located on an island known as Bimini, Ponce de León led an expedition to the coast of what is now Florida in 1513. Thinking it was the island he sought, he sailed back to colonize the region in 1521, but was fatally wounded in a Native American attack soon after his arrival.