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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;willieboyd2, post: 24559896, member: 4910&quot;]Theodore Roosevelt&#039;s 1914 trip to Brazil and a numismatic gold coin mystery </p><p><br /></p><p>In 1912 former United States president Theodore Roosevelt lost his re-election campaign and was looking for something to do. </p><p><br /></p><p>Usually former American presidents who have lost elections retire to write their memoirs but not Theodore Roosevelt. </p><p><br /></p><p>In 1913 he was invited to give speeches in various South America countries. </p><p><br /></p><p>He received an interesting invitation from Brazil&#039;s minister of foreign affairs to explore an &quot;unknown river&quot;, the &quot;River of Doubt&quot;. Theodore&#039;s son Kermit was working in South America and joined the expedition, which was led by Colonel Candido Rondon, Brazil&#039;s famed Amazon jungle explorer. There were fifteen Brazilian porters (camaradas) along on the expedition who did most of the work. </p><p><br /></p><p>The trip is described in the 2005 book <i>The River of Doubt - Theodore Roosevelt&#039;s Darkest Journey</i> by Candice Millard. </p><p><br /></p><p>The expedition lasted from February to April 1914 and was a real jungle horror story with actual cannibals, deadly snakes, insects, diseases, infections, deaths, a murder, and starvation. When they were able to exit the river Theodore Roosevelt was taken to a hospital in Manaus to recover and then boarded a steamship for the trip back to the United States. </p><p><br /></p><p>The book noted that Theodore Roosevelt gave two gold coins to each of the members of the expedition. </p><p><br /></p><p>But what were the gold coins? Could they have been some of the American gold coins which, as president, Theodore Roosevelt had a part in designing? </p><p><br /></p><p>Well, the gold coin question has been answered in another book. </p><p><br /></p><p>The book is the recent (2023) book <i>Into the Amazon: The Life of Candido Rondon</i> by Larry Rohter. </p><p><br /></p><p><i>Then Rondon and the other Brazilians came on board the steamship Aidan to say goodbye. Roosevelt shook hands with every camarada, gave each two gold sovereigns and made a speech, which Kermit translated into Portuguese. &quot;You are all heroes,&quot; he told them, adding that they were &quot;a fine set-brave, patient, obedient and enduring.&quot; Nor was Simplicio (a camarada who died) forgotten: Roosevelt directed that his gold coins be sent to his mother.</i> </p><p><br /></p><p>British gold sovereigns were an international currency then. They were used all over the world, including in South America. </p><p><br /></p><p>A British gold sovereign, minted too late for Theodore Roosevelt&#039;s purposes: </p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://www.brianrxm.com/posts/post_britain_sovereign_1915.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>Great Britain King George V Sovereign 1915</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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