- Bi-metal coin available in special color pack – only 2,022 available
- Also produced in Proof Fine Silver with Goldclad® surround in a small issue limit of only 195
The Pobjoy Mint is delighted to announce the release of a brand new £2 celebrating 100 years since the end of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.
The Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration was an era in the exploration of the continent that began at the end of the 19th century and ended after the First World War. During this Heroic Age, Antarctica was the focus of international efforts that resulted in intensive scientific and geographic exploration by many expeditions launched from several countries. The common factor in these expeditions was the limited nature of the resources available to them before advances in transport and communication technologies revolutionized exploration. Each expedition was therefore a feat of endurance that tested, and sometimes exceeded, the physical and mental limits of its personnel. The “heroic” label, recognizes the adversities that were overcome by these pioneers.
In 1914, Ernest Shackleton set sail from South Georgia for his Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition aboard Endurance. He sailed into the Weddell Sea with the aim of landing the expedition party near Vahsel Bay, from where they would commence their trans-Antarctic crossing.
Encountering difficult ice conditions, Endurance became beset in the pack ice of the Weddell Sea, drifting north throughout the Antarctic winter before the ship was eventually crushed and sunk. Her 28-man crew then spent months in makeshift camps on the ice, before they took to the lifeboats to reach Elephant Island.
With no hope of rescue, Shackleton made the decision to seek help on the island of South Georgia, some 800 miles away. Of the three lifeboats taken from Endurance, it was the James Caird thought most likely to survive the journey. Shackleton had named it after Sir James Key Caird, a Dundee philanthropist whose sponsorship had helped finance the expedition.
The James Caird was brought back from the Antarctic to England in 1919, aboard the whaler Woodville, and was originally displayed in the gardens of the Middlesex. In 1922, she was presented to Dulwich College by John Quiller Rowett, a school friend of Shackleton and sponsor of his last expedition aboard the Quest.
The James Caird is now on display in the Laboratory at Dulwich College in London.
The coin shows the moment the James Caird arrived on South Georgia and marked the beginning or the end of the famous rescue mission to save the crew of Endurance. Issued on behalf of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, the coin has been produced in Bi-metal and Proof Fine Silver with Goldclad®. The obverse of the coin features an effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II produced exclusively by Pobjoy Mint.
Presentation
The Bi-Metal coin is presented in a special presentation pack. The Proof Fine Silver coin is presented in a red box complimented with a sleeve using the special design.
Coin Specifications
Our Statement on the Passing of Her Majesty The Queen
Following Thursday’s devastating news, on behalf of the Pobjoy family and everyone at Pobjoy Mint, I would like to extend our condolences to the Royal Family at this very sad time.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II reigned unwaveringly and with utter devotion to duty during her 70 years as our Monarch, giving a lifetime of service not only to the United Kingdom but to British Overseas Territories and the Commonwealth and will be greatly missed by everyone at Pobjoy Mint along with millions of people all over the world.
It was the world’s obsession with coins featuring Her Majesty’s effigy that inspired my father, Derek Pobjoy, to set up Pobjoy Mint and this interest never diminished, especially with coins marking special Royal events and key stages in the lives of the Royal Family. Her Majesty’s attentiveness to detail was often apparent with requests to see final coins when they have been produced and her personal involvement in the current effigy that we use on our coins.
Her dedication to her duties was to be admired and during difficult periods nothing prevented the personal approval of our coin designs – which, as a female in a manufacturing world, was totally inspiring.
The passion of people all over the world wishing to collect coins depicting special events and featuring Her Majesty’s effigy will ensure that her memory and extraordinary legacy will remain with us all forever and seal her place in history as one of the most loved British Monarchs.
A Message from Taya Pobjoy, Managing Director, Pobjoy Mint
Get in Touch
We’d love to hear your feedback, comments, and suggestions. You can call our sales line Toll Free at 1-877-4Pobjoy (1-877-476-2569) or visit our website www.pobjoy.com.
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