(sold for $24.0)

CoinWorldTV

1969, Tunisia, Habib Bourguiba. Large Proof Silver Dinar "Masanissa" Coin. 20gm!

State: Tunisia Mint Date: 1969 References: KM-293. Denomination: 1 Dinar - Masinissa (ancient Numidian king). Condition: Minor deposits and contatct-marks, otherwise Proof! Material: Silver (.925) Diameter: 40mm Weight: 20gm

Masinissa (c. 238 BC – 148 BC: 180, 183 ), also spelled Massinissa, Massena and Massan, was an ancient Numidian king best known for leading a federation of Massylii Berber tribes during the Second Punic War (218–201 BC), ultimately uniting them into a kingdom that became a major regional power in North Africa.

Much of what is known about Masinissa comes from the Livy's History of Rome, and to a lesser extent Cicero's Scipio's Dream. As the son of a Numidian chieftain allied to Carthage, he fought against the Romans in the Second Punic War, but later switched sides upon concluding that Rome would prevail. With the support of his erstwhile enemy, he united the eastern and western Numidian tribes and founded the Kingdom of Numidia. As a Roman ally, Masinissa took part in the decisive Battle of Zama in 202 BC that effectively ended the war in Carthage's defeat; he also allowed his wife Sophonisba, a famed Carthaginian noblewoman who had influenced Numidian affairs to Carthage's benefit, to poison herself in lieu of being paraded in a triumph in Rome.: 180–181 .

After inheriting a larger, more powerful kingdom now backed by Rome, Masinissa played decisive role in provoking Carthage into triggering the Third Punic War, which ended in the city's complete destruction, and left Numidia the sole power in northwest Africa. He ruled for 54 years until his death at age 90. He was regarded as a staunch ally of Rome, and an unusually vigorous ruler, leading troops until his death and fathering some 44 sons.: 181  His tomb in Cirta (modern-day Constantine in Algeria) bears the inscription MSNSN, read Mas'n'sen, or "Their Lord".

The Greek historian Polybius, who wrote extensively about the Punic Wars and is reputed to have met Masinissa, described him as "the best man of all the kings of our time", writing that "his greatest and most divine achievement was this: Numidia had been before his time universally unproductive, and was looked upon as incapable of producing any cultivated fruits. He was the first and only man who showed that it could produce cultivated fruits just as well as any other country". In the following centuries, Numidia would become known as the breadbasket of Rome, largely due to Masinissa adopting Carthaginian agricultural practices.

In addition to his legacy as a major figure in the Punic Wars, Masinissa is largely viewed as an icon by the Berbers, many of whom consider him their forefather.

Habib Bourguiba (Habib Burqibah; 3 August 1903 – 6 April 2000) was a Tunisian statesman, the Founder and the first President of the Republic of Tunisia from July 25, 1957 until 7 November 1987. He is often compared to Turkish leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk because of the pro-Western reforms enacted during his presidency.

The youngest of eight brothers and sisters, Habib Bourguiba was born on 3 August 1903 in Monastir, 100 miles south of Tunis. Bourguiba attended school in Tunis at the Collège Sadiki and then at the Lycée Carnot. He obtained his Baccalaureate in 1924 and went to the University of Paris to study law and political science. While in Paris, the adult Bourguiba   met Mathilde Lorrain, his landlady at that time, whom he married in   1927. The couple had their only son, Habib Bourguiba, Jr. on April 9, 1927.

The same year Bourguiba graduated with a degree in Law and Political   Science, and returned with his newly formed family to Tunisia where he   got immediately involved in political life by joining two newspapers in   1928: l'Etendard Tunisien (The Tunisian Flag) and Sawt At-Tunisi (The Tunisian Voice). In 1931, the French colonial authorities prosecuted him for his alleged "Incitement to racial   hatred". Subsequent to this, Bourguiba launched a militant newspaper L'Action Tunisienne, laying the ground for strong action against the colonial power.

As a member of the Executive Committee of the Destour Party, Bourguiba found himself less in tune with the mainstream party   vision, which culminated in the Monastir incident of August 8, 1933   relative to the burial of a naturalized Tunisian citizen. Bourguiba was   pushed to resign from the committee, which led to the creation of the Neo Destour Party in Ksar Hellal on March 2, 1934 with Bourguiba as the Secretary   General of the Political Bureau. From that moment, Bourguiba set out to   crisscross the country to try to enroll the majority of Tunisians from   the countryside; and thus create a more popular base for his newly   formed party so that he managed in a couple of years to set up more than   400 branches (cells) of the Neo Destour.

In September 1934, the colonial representative (Resident General) Mr   Peyrouton ordered that Bourguiba be confined to Borj-Leboeuf, a remote   place on the border of the Sahara desert, until April 1936 when he was   released with most of his companions. After the popular uprising of   April 9, 1938, where colonial troops opened fire on demonstrators   killing and injuring hundreds of civilians, Bourguiba was once again   imprisoned on June 10, 1939 along with a group of militants on charges   of plotting against the state security and incitement to civil war.

At the outbreak of World War II, Bourguiba was transferred to the   Teboursouk prison and then in May 1940, to the Haut Fort Saint Nicholas   near Marseilles until November 18, 1942 where he was taken to Fort   Montluc in Lyon. After which he ended up in Fort Vancia in Ain until the   Germans released him and took him to Chalon-sur-Saône.   In a manoeuvre by the Germans and Italian Fascist regime to gain   Bourguiba's alliance, he was received with full honours in Rome, in   January 1943, but to no avail; the Italian Foreign Affairs Ministry   tried to obtain a statement in their favour; on the eve of his return   home, he accepted to deliver a message to the Tunisian people by "Radio   Bari", cautioning them against "all the appetites". In his return to   Tunis, on April 7, 1943 he made sure that the message he had sent from   his prison in August 1942 reached the general population as well as the   militants, that Germany was bound to lose the war and that Tunisia's   independence would only come after the victory of the Allies. He emphasized his position by putting it as a question of life or death for Tunisia.

After the end of World War II, Bourguiba, after many sterile efforts   to open a dialogue with the French authorities, came to the conclusion   that the Tunisian cause had to be brought to the attention of the world   opinion. In March 1945, he left Sfax secretly, on a small fisherman's   boat, heading to Libya, and from there, on foot and on camel's back, he   managed to reach Cairo, which he used as a base for his international   activity. He took part in the setting up of the Greater Maghreb Office.   He travelled continuously to the different Arab countries, members of   the newly born Arab League, Europe, (Switzerland, Belgium), to Asia,   (Pakistan, India, Indonesia) and USA to promote the Tunisian aspiration   for independence and met with high and influential personalities to help   the Tunisian cause. On September 8, 1949, Bourguiba returned to Tunis   to reorganise the Party and resume his direct contact policy with the   population by visiting small towns and villages throughout the country.

In April 1950, he laid out a seven-point program aiming at ending the   system of direct administration in Tunisia and restoring full Tunisian   sovereignty as a final step to independent statehood. In 1951, he   embarked on a second round of trips to promote his program at the   international level. In light of the French Government refusal to   concede to national claims, Bourguiba toughened his stance and called   for unlimited resistance and general insurrection. This tactic led to   his arrest on January 18, 1952 and his confinement in Tabarka, then   Remada then in La Galite and finally Groix Island at the Ferte Castle.

Pierre Mendès-France became French prime minister in 1954; his positions on France's   colonial policies opened the door to Tunisian home-rule. June 1, 1955   saw the return of Bourguiba. The "Internal Autonomy Agreement" was a big   step to total independence. After several arduous negotiations,   independence was proclaimed on March 20, 1956, with Habib Bourguiba as   president of the "National Constituent Assembly", and Head of the   Government. At the same time, he acted as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tunisia.

On July 25, 1957, a republic was proclaimed abolishing the monarchy and investing Bourguiba with powers of President of the Republic.   Bourguiba's long and powerful presidency was formative for the creation   of the Tunisian state and nation.

After a failed experiment with socialist economic policies, Bourguiba embarked from the early 1970s on an economically liberal model of development spearheaded by his Prime Minister, Hédi Nouira for a ten-year period. This led to flourishing of private businesses and consolidation of the private sector.

On the international front, Bourguiba took a pro-Western position in the Cold War,   but with a fiercely defended independent foreign policy that challenged   the leadership of the Arab League by Egyptian President Nasser. In March 1965, he delivered the historical Jericho Speech advocating a fair and lasting peace between Palestinians and Israelis based on the UN 1947 Resolution that proposed two states.

Bourguiba signed an agreement with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to merge nations in 1974. The pact came as a surprise because Bouguiba had rebuked similar offers for over two years previously. Weeks after the agreement, he postponed a referendum on the issue,   effectively ending it weeks later. The idea of merging states was highly   unpopular in Tunisia, and cost Bourguiba much of his people's respect.   The agreement was said to allow Bourguiba the presidency while Gaddafi   would be defense minister.

In March 1975, the Tunisian National Assembly voted Bourguiba president for life, as an exceptional measure. In the 1980s Bourguiba made efforts to combat both poverty and a rising Islamist opposition, spearheaded by the Nahda party.

In 1979 Tunis became the headquarters of the Arab League after the Camp David Accords and in 1982, it welcomed the Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) leadership in Tunis, after it had been ousted from Beirut during the Lebanese Civil War.

On October 1, 1985, Israel launched an attack against the PLO headquarters near Tunis. The Tunisian Armed Forces were unable to prevent the total destruction of the base. Although most   of the dead were PLO members, there were casualties among Tunisian   civilian bystanders. As a result, Bourguiba significantly downscaled   relations with the United States.

On November 7, 1987 Prime Minister Zine El Abidine Ben Ali,   in a coup d'état, declared President Habib Bourguiba impeached on   medical grounds and constitutionally replaced him as President of   Tunisia, on the basis of a strict reading of Article 57.

The Bourguiba government's reforms include female emancipation,   public education, family planning, a modern, state-run healthcare   system, a campaign to improve literacy, administrative, financial and   economic organization, suppression of the "Waqf" (aka, "frozen property"), and building the country's infrastructure. Much of the reform goes to his adviser, Cecil Hourani, who, to Bourguiba's credit, was selected by him.

During the time Bourguiba was president, education was a high   priority. Bourguiba also promoted women's rights as a way to gain   Western support for his regime during the Cold War. Though these set important legal precedents by prohibiting polygamy, expanding women's access to divorce, and raising the age at which girls could marry to 17 years old – he simultaneously banned women's rights groups from   organizing. The new Personal Status Code passed in August 1956 expanded   women's rights, though it remains open to debate how much this   transformed Tunisian society in practice. Notably, the Code also   institutionalized the role of the father as head of the family. After   independence, Tunisia's Jewish Community Council was abolished by the government and many Jewish areas and buildings were destroyed for "urban renewal".

Bourguiba remained as President of Tunisia until November 7, 1987, when his newly-appointed Prime Minister and constitutional successor Zine El Abidine Ben Ali impeached him, claiming his old age and health reasons as certified by   his own doctors made him unfit to govern. Ali himself was overthrown in   2011 in the first of the Arab Spring uprisings.

Bourguiba lived in Monastir under government protection in the Governor's Mansion for the last 13 years of his life.

In 1925, Habib Bourguiba met his future wife, Mathilde Lorrain, in Paris while he was studying law at the Sorbonne. She converted to Islam and chose the name Moufida Bourguiba. She bore him one son: Habib Bourguiba, Jr. in April 1927. In a second wedding, he married the influential Wassila Ben Ammar and adopted a daughter, Hajer Bourguiba.

Bourguiba died on April 6, 2000 at the age of 96. He was buried with   national honors on April 8, 2000 in a mausoleum in Monastir.

Only 1$ shipping for each additional item purchased!

type to read more
Price
This coin has been sold for   $24.0

Notes: https://www.ebay.com/itm/154720879274 2021-12-01

Page Cache: http://st.coinshome.net/page-cache/b25d1bcb92c44e8f8595b5542cbe2ddd.html
Posted by: anonymous
2021-12-01
 
Additional views:
2024-03-26 - Historical Coin Prices
1 Gulden / 1 Florin Austrian Empire (1804-1867) Si ...
Coin prices from public sources
Details
2024-03-26 - New coin is added to 20 Franc Tunisia Silver


    20 Franc Tunisia Silver
group has    6 coins / 4 prices



TUNISIA 1935 20 FRANCS AH1353 SULTAN SILVER WORLD COIN
You may be interested in ...
Market
Dynasty tree and coins
Check yourself!

Coin Puzzle
Coins Prices