Greatest Britons: Shackleton - 2007 Unc. Cupro Nickel £2 Coin - SGA

In 2005, when more than half a million Britons cast their votes to decide who was the Greatest Briton of all time, little did they know that included in their top thirty would be three people closely linked with the tiny UK Overseas Territory, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.

Pobjoy Mint, on behalf of that Government has produced a set of three new coins honouring these distinguished three Greatest Britons. 

Explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton came in at number 11. He’s buried on South Georgia after dying of a heart attack during his 1922 quest to circumnavigate the Antarctic continent. His most famous previous visit had been during the opening months of the first world war when he led an expedition which saw his ship, The Endurance, become encased in ice for 18 months and eventually break up, leaving him and his crew marooned although thanks to his perseverance and bravery, all were eventually rescued.