Famous Explorers: Shackleton - 2001 Unc. Cupro Nickel £2 Coin - SGA

Following the success of the 2000 issue of Explorer coins, South Goergia and the South Sandwich Islands are delighted to release a further to coins in the series,

The first coin features Ernest Henry Shackleton (1874-1922). Shackleton departed from England in Augst 1914 to make the first of its kind land crossing of Antarctica. However, about 60miles from where the crew planned to drop anchor, their ship "The Endurance", became trapped in an ice pack. They spent the winter trapped until the ship was crushed by ice, which left the expedition marooned in freezing Antarctica with only three life boats and the provisisons they had managed to save.

Shackleton and a few other men sailed one of the lifeboats eight hundered miles to South Georgia where they knew a whaling station was located. It took several more months to reach the remaining men because of ices packs, however, eventually they were reached in August 1916. Incredibly, not one man was lost in the enitre ordeal. Shackleton continued to return to the Antarctic and in January 1922, his ship "The Quest" anchored off the coast of Grytviken in South Georgia, and he made his way ashore. In the very early hours of 5th January, Sir Ernest Shackleton suffered a heart attack and his body was buried in the Whalers Cemetery at Grytviken.