APPARITIONS OF FATIMA 100th Anniversary Silver Coin 500 Francs Cameroon 2017

The reverse of the coin depicts the shape of the Virgin Mary overlaid by a bright Gold plated sun and the three Portuguese children who have for the first time seen the God’s Mother. On the bottom-right of the reverse, the inscription: “FATIMA 1917”. The obverse of the coin features an intricate design full of details and the inscriptions: “REPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN” – the issue country, “500 FRANCS CFA” – the face value and “2017” – the issue year.

Our Lady of Fátima

Our Lady of Fátima, is a Roman Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary based on the famed Marian apparitions reported in 1917 by three shepherd children at the Cova da Iria, in Fátima, Portugal. The three little children were Lúcia Santos and her cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto. On 13 May 1946, Pope Pius XII granted a canonical coronation to the venerated image enshrined at the Chapel of the Apparitions of Fátima via his apostolic legate, Cardinal Benedetto Aloisi Masella. On 11 November 1954, the same Pontiff later raised the Sanctuary of Fátima to the status of Minor Basilica by his Papal brief Lucer Superna. The reported apparitions at Fátima were officially declared worthy of belief by the Catholic Church, which commemorates the event on the same date. The published memoirs of Lúcia Santos' in the 1930s revealed two secrets that she claimed came from the Virgin while the third secret was to be revealed by the Catholic Church in 1960. The controversial events at Fátima gained fame due partly to elements of the secrets, prophecy and eschatological revelations allegedly related to the Second World War and possibly more global wars in the future, particularly the Virgin's alleged request for the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.