- New 2023 Reverse Frosted 999. Silver Bullion
- Issue Limit of 10,000 worldwide for Silver
- Only 100 pieces of the Fine 999. Gold Bullion – Sold out!
Pobjoy Mint announces the release of a new 2023 Silver Reverse Frosted Bullion Coin featuring the emperor penguin. The coin is Pobjoy Mint’s first bullion coin featuring the effigy of His Majesty King Charles III and the first of its kind issued on behalf of the British Antarctic Territory.
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 female lays a single egg, which is incubated by the male while the female returns to the sea to feed.
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 first breeding colony wasn’t discovered until 1902 by Lt. Reginald Skelton on Scott’s 1901-04 Discovery Expedition, some 130 years after the birds had first been seen on Captain Cook’s second voyage. New colonies are still being discovered.
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.
Despite this discovery, in October 2022, the emperor penguin was officially declared a threatened species by the United States due to the risk posed to the birds by the climate crisis. The penguins face almost complete eradication from the loss of sea ice over the course of this century – a situation that prompted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to place it on the endangered species list.
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.
Bullion coins are always a very attractive purchase due to their intrinsic metal value, and with this design featuring a new enhanced reverse cameo finish, it is an even more attractive purchase. In order to maintain the exclusivity of this piece, no more than 10,000 of the 1oz Fine 999. Silver Reverse Frosted Bullion coins will be produced.
The design on the coin shows two emperor penguins standing on the ice. Approved by Buckingham Palace, this coin carries an uncouped effigy of His Majesty King Charles III produced exclusively by Pobjoy Mint, which also features a frosted background. A silver bullion privy mark “P” is also present which is unique to Pobjoy Mint reverse frosted bullion coins.
Emperor Penguin Silver Bullion Coin Specifications
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