Swordfish & Dove with Olive Twig 500 Mils Cyprus Authentic Coin Money for Jewelry and Craft Making

Swordfish & Dove with Olive Twig 500 Mils Cyprus Authentic Coin Money for Jewelry and Craft Making

Commemorative issue: FAO - World Food Day

Obverse: Cyprus coat of arms (A dove holding an olive twig and the independence year 1960), laurel twigs around with inscription Cyprus in Greek, Turkish and English
Lettering: ΚΥΠΡΟΣ
KIBRIS
CYPRUS

Reverse: Swordfish and Ear of Grain
Lettering: 16 OCT. 1981
500

Edge: Reeded

Features
Issuer Cyprus
Period Republic (1960-date)
Type Non-circulating coin
Year 1981
Value 500 Mils (0.5)
Currency Pound (decimalized, 1955-1982)
Composition Copper-nickel
Weight 14.14 g
Diameter 32.31 mm
Shape Round
Technique Milled
Orientation Medal alignment ↑↑
Demonetized Yes
Number N# 12481
References KM# 51

Swordfish, an iconic migratory species in the Mediterranean, has been a source of income for fishermen and their families since ancient times. Unfortunately swordfish has been overfished in the last 30 years and we will be facing a potential total collapse of the stock if no action is taken soon.

Mediterranean heritage
In areas such as the Strait of Messina, in Italy, swordfish were traditionally caught using a particular boat – the Feluca – with a mast used to sight the fish swimming on the surface. These boats were very fast, with the harpooner standing at the end of a footbridge extending about 10m from the bow of the boat.
Nowadays there are very few traditional, harpoon fishing vessels. Technological innovations have changed the boats, although some rituals still remain: when a fish is caught and lifted on board one of the crew impresses a double cross on the right cheek of the fish as a sign of respect for the fish and in recognition of its qualities as a noble fighter.

Following the ban on the use of driftnets for highly migratory species in 2003, drifting longlines have predominantly been used to catch swordfish in the Mediterranean (on average, representing 84% of the annual catch). Despite the ban, there is still concern about the ongoing illegal use of driftnets in some countries.

Some information:
Swordfish prices can reach up to €25 per kilo.
Countries with the largest reported catches (percentage of total catches 2003-2015): Italy (45%), Morocco (14%), Spain (13%), Greece (10%) and Tunisia (7%).
Algeria, Cyprus, Malta and Turkey also have fisheries targeting swordfish in the Mediterranean.
The EU fleet accounts for 75% of total catches in the Mediterranean and makes up 85% of the entire fleet.
We are catching twice the sustainable level of swordfish. The fish doesn’t have time to reproduce: high rates of juvenile catches (fish of less than 3 years) currently reach around 70% of total catches.
The minimum landing size is now set at 90cm, which is much smaller than the size at first maturity recognized by scientists.
Mediterranean swordfish spawning stock has decreased by 88% in terms of biomass, from the levels that are considered sustainable, since the mid 1980s.

Source: https://wwf.panda.org/discover/knowledge_hub/where_we_work/mediterranean/mediterranean_marine_initiative/mediterranean_swordfish_wwf_raises_the_alarm/

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Wikipedia:
The symbolism of the dove in Christianity is first found in the Old Testament Book of Genesis in the story of Noah's Ark, “And the dove came in to him at eventide; and, lo, in her mouth an olive-leaf plucked off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.” Genesis 8:11 And, also, in the New Testament Gospels of Matthew and Luke, both passages describe after the baptism of Jesus, respectively, as follows, “And Jesus when he was baptized, went up straightway from the water: and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him.” Matthew 3:16 and, “And the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” Luke 3:22 The Holy Spirit descending on Jesus and appearing in the bodily form of a dove is mentioned in the other two Gospels as well (see Mark 1:10 and John 1:32).

The use of a dove and olive branch as a symbol of peace originated with the early Christians, who portrayed the act of baptism accompanied by a dove holding an olive branch in its beak and also used the image on their sepulchres.

Christians derived the symbol of the dove and olive branch from Greek thought, including its use of the symbol of the olive branch, and the story of Noah and the Flood. Although Jews never used the dove as a symbol of peace, it acquired that meaning among early Christians, confirmed by St Augustine of Hippo in his book On Christian Doctrine and became well established.

In Christian Iconography, a dove also symbolizes the Holy Spirit, in reference to Matthew 3:16 and Luke 3:22 where the Holy Spirit is compared to a dove at the Baptism of Jesus.[Mt 3:16]

The early Christians in Rome incorporated into their funerary art the image of a dove carrying an olive branch, often accompanied by the word "Peace". It seems that they derived this image from the simile in the Gospels, combining it with the symbol of the olive branch, which had been used to represent peace by the Greeks and Romans. The dove and olive branch also appeared in Christian images of Noah's ark. The fourth century Vulgate translated the Hebrew alay zayit (leaf of olive) in Genesis 8:11 as Latin ramum olivae (branch of olive). By the fifth century, Augustine of Hippo wrote in On Christian Doctrine that "perpetual peace is indicated by the olive branch (oleae ramusculo) which the dove brought with it when it returned to the ark".

In the earliest Christian art, the dove represented the peace of the soul rather than civil peace, but from the third century it began to appear in depictions of conflict in the Old Testament, such as Noah and the Ark, and in the Apocrypha, such as Daniel and the lions, the three young men in the furnace, and Susannah and the Elders.

Before the Peace of Constantine (313 AD), in which Rome ceased its persecution of Christians following Constantine's conversion, Noah was normally shown in an attitude of prayer, a dove with an olive branch flying toward him or alighting on his outstretched hand. According to Graydon Snyder, "The Noah story afforded the early Christian community an opportunity to express piety and peace in a vessel that withstood the threatening environment" of Roman persecution. According to Ludwig Budde and Pierre Prigent, the dove referred to the descending of the Holy Spirit rather than the peace associated with Noah. After the Peace of Constantine, when persecution ceased, Noah appeared less frequently in Christian art.

Medieval illuminated manuscripts, such as the Holkham Bible, showed the dove returning to Noah with a branch. Wycliffe's Bible, which translated the Vulgate into English in the 14th century, uses "a braunche of olyue tre with greene leeuys" ("a branch of olive tree with green leaves") in Gen. 8:11. In the Middle Ages, some Jewish illuminated manuscripts also showed Noah's dove with an olive branch, for example, the Golden Haggadah (about 1420).