Issue Limit of 750 Worldwide
Pobjoy Mint announces the release of a brand new two pound coin featuring the endemic emperor penguin. The coin has been issued on behalf of the British Antarctic Territory in a special pearl black finish with the penguins in full color, bringing these flightless birds to life.
The emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) is the tallest and heaviest of all living penguin species and is unique to the Antarctic territory. It is also the only animal to inhabit the open ice of Antarctica during the winter, trekking 50-120 kilometers over the ice to breeding colonies. The male and female are similar in plumage and size with black dorsal sides and head, a white belly, pale yellow breast and bright yellow ear patches.
The majority of emperor penguin colonies are on winter fast ice that is frozen solid and attached to the land from autumn until it begins to break up in the spring (though some years it doesn’t break up at all). They are found all around the coasts of the Antarctic continent. They breed during the depths of the Antarctic winter and in some of the most desolate, coldest, windiest and downright grim places on the planet during the season of 24-hour darkness.
The waters around and beneath the sea ice are important as an area for feeding and the ice shelf itself is essential as a place to rest, to shelter and to escape from predators. The loss of sea ice due to global heating and ocean acidification is diminishing the supply of the penguins’ food source. The penguins’ very existence depends on strong action being taken now to cut climate-heating fossil fuels and prevent irreversible damage to the life of the emperor penguin.
Emperor penguins are known to be vulnerable to loss of sea ice, their favored breeding habitat. With current projections of climate change, this habitat is likely to decline the most recent projects suggest that, under current warming trends, 80% of colonies will be quasi-extinct by the end of the century.
For the last 15 years, British Antarctic Survey (BAS) scientists have been looking for new colonies by searching satellite imagery for their guano stains on the ice. In 2021, BAS Scientists discovered a new emperor penguin colony in Antarctica making a total of 66 known colonies around the coastline, with exactly half been discovered by satellite imagery.
The design on the coin shows two emperor penguins standing on the ice showcased in full color with a pearl black finish in the center and a silver incused rim. Approved by Buckingham Palace, this coin carries an effigy of His Majesty King Charles III produced exclusively by Pobjoy Mint.
Presentation
The Proof Fine 1oz Silver coin is presented in a red presentation box with a certificate of authenticity.
Limited Edition Emperor Penguin £2 Coin Specifications
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.
