While most people believe that America was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492, we now know that the Vikings and Leif Eriksson reached the shores of North America 500 years before Columbus. Leif was probably born in Iceland about 970-980 but as a child he moved with his parents to Greenland. It was a tradition that young Viking men make a voyage back to Norway, the land of their ancestors. Leif traveled to Norway in 999 and stayed with King Olav Trygvasson. As one story goes, as Leif was sailing back to Greenland he was driven off course and accidentally found new lands. In one place there were fields of wild wheat and grapevines. For many years archaeologists had looked for Viking evidence in America but none had been found until 1961 when at the northern tip of Newfoundland, at a place called “L’Anse aux Meadows” evidence of buildings, jewelry, tools, slag iron, and coal were found confirming the presence of the Vikings! This beautiful silver coin was issued by authority of the government of the Isle of Man and has a legal tender value of 1 Crown. Minted in 1996, it is part of the Explorers series and features the bust of Leif Eiriksson. This coin comes in a mint issued display case with a Certificate of Authenticity.