The obverse of the coin shows the Frigate Presidente Sarmiento, so named in acknowledgment and appreciation of the founder of the Naval School. It was launched on August 31, 1897 and its seaworthiness tests were completed in May 1898. From 1899 it was in service as a Naval Ship. In 1961 it became the Argentinean Navy's Museum Ship, and was finally declared a National Historic Monument.

The obverse of the coin portrays La Santísima Trinidad, a ship built by D. Mateo Mullán. It weighed 2163 tons and had an overall length of 213.8 feet and a beam of 58 feet. The best woods from the island's forests were used in its construction: mahogany, júcaro, caguairán, and it became a symbol of the rebirth of Havana in the anxious days of the siege of 1762.

The obverse of the coin depicts a Guayaquil Raft. This, to all historical accounts, was utilized as a means of fluvial and maritime transport for conveying all manner of goods and fruits, from the ship's hold to Guayaquil, and thence to la Puná, Salto de Tumbez and Payta. It furthered the medium and long distance exchange not only of articles and farm produce but also of knowledge and technology.

The design on the obverse of this coin is based on an engraving by the artist José Espinós Gisbert (1877-1956), who joined the Casa de la Moneda in 1924 as an assistant coin engraver. The engraving represents a 16th century galleon. The development of overseas trade required well-built, steady ships that could face up to the heavy ocean swell, that had a good complement of sails and that were capable of accommodating a heavy dead weight, both in artillery and in goods and foodstuffs. The galleon weighed from 300 to 800 tons and had an overall length of 30 meters.

The inspiration for the design on the obverse is derived from an artistic expression of primitive sailing, the canoe, that was utilized by the Mayans to provide themselves with food and to travel among the different villages. The craft consisted of a hollowed-out portion of the trunk of the tree known as the Ceiba (today, Guatemala's National Tree), lined with leather.

The obverse of the coin exhibits the Acapulco Galleon. Its significance is to be found in the sphere of international trade during the 16th, 17th and part of the 18th centuries, and it represented cultural exchange with all the eastern countries.

The obverse of the coin shows a canoe hugging the shoreline of the islets on Lake Cocibolca.

The obverse portrays the South American continent as a background design, highlighting the Mediterranean ambiance of Paraguay and the importance of the River Paraguay. Also depicted is a caravel (symbolizing THE MOTHER COUNTRY, SPAIN) swaying in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean by virtue of the vigorous WIND, in turn symbolically represented among the clouds. On the opposite side appears a group that provides a true likeness of the GUARANí people in a canoe fashioned out of tree bark.

The concept illustrated on the obverse of the Peruvian coin is the association between the ancient Peruvian art form and the daily means of subsistence in a natural context: the sea. The main motif depicted is a Moche ceramic that shows two fishermen rowing on opposite sides of a small raft made of reeds.

The obverse of the coin portrays a caravel (the most famous ship of the Age of Discovery, a sextant and a ship's compass, the latter being an essential point of reference for the sextant in order to plot the ship's position.

The obverse represents the ocean that has marked the Meeting of Two Worlds. On the reverse can be seen a map of the Hispanic-American World.