Celebrating Antarctic Exploration

The Royal Mint produced a £2 coin to recognize the 125th anniversary of the RRS Discovery. The specimen is the first to commemorate the Antarctic exploration vessel. 

Gary Breeze designed the coin’s reverse, which depicts the Discovery with penguins and a whale tail in the foreground. A partial map of Antarctica is superimposed on the ship. The legend DISCOVERY appears below the scene, and the coin includes an edge inscription that reads DESIGNED FOR ADVENTURE. Martin Jennings’s effigy of King Charles III is on the obverse. The commemorative is available in gold and silver proof, silver proof piedfort, and brilliant-uncirculated versions on the Royal Mint’s website.

The RRS Discovery

The United Kingdom commissioned the RRS Discovery in 1900. Soon after, the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Society devised an expedition plan to chart Antarctica. Built with design help from the Admiralty and partial funding from the United Kingdom, the ship set sail on March 21, 1901, led by Commander Robert Falcon Scott. 

The Discovery became the first British expedition to overwinter on the Antarctic mainland, allowing for treks into the continent to chart the terrain. The Discovery’s expedition was a resounding success. Using cutting-edge scientific equipment, the crew conducted a magnetic survey of the southern regions. They also conducted metrological, oceanographic, geological, biological, and physical investigations of the Ross Sea region, gathering thousands of specimens and amassing significant observation data.